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half-baked

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: halfbaked and half baked

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From half- +‎ baked.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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half-baked (comparative more half-baked, superlative most half-baked)

  1. (figurative, informal, frequently derisive) Incomplete; (of an idea or scheme) not fully planned or carefully considered, ill-conceived, unsound or badly thought-out; (of a person) foolish or having no common sense.
    Synonyms: half-assed (vulgar), half-cocked (vulgar); dough-baked (dated)
    The guy had some half-baked idea for getting rich in the stock market.
    • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 592:
      "You're cheap. Cheap education, cheap ideas, a half-baked bloody nobody."
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      She came skipping to me just now, clapping her little hands and bleating about how very, very happy she was, dear Mrs Travers. The silly young geezer. I nearly conked her one with my trowel. I'd always thought her half-baked, but now I think they didn't even put her in the oven.
    • 1996, Todd G. Buchholz, From Here to Economy‎[1], Penguin Publishing Group, →ISBN:
      Though Jevons's theory was more than half-baked, it needed more time in the oven, since he forgot to calculate that poor harvests in Asia would hit England only after a time lag.
    • 2013 April 16, Paula Cocozza, “Resignation by cake: the sweetest way to say goodbye”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN:
      A Cambridgeshire man recently gave notice with a message piped on top of a passion cake. A half-baked idea, or a generous parting gift for the office?
  2. Under the influence (of alcohol) but not totally baked.
    Coordinate terms: buzzed, feeling no pain; three sheets to the wind; baked
    If you need to talk to John tonight, try to catch him early in the evening, while he's still only half-baked.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: Partially cooked by heating in an oven, either as an accidental outcome or as a work in process.
    Near-synonyms: underbaked, dough-baked (dated)
    The casserole was half-baked, but I choked it down anyway to be polite.
    When the casserole is half-baked, get started on preparing the side dishes.

Translations

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See also

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