nice-but-dim

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From nice + but + dim, popularised by the character Tim Nice-But-Dim on Harry Enfield's Television Programme.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

nice-but-dim (not comparable)

  1. (UK, colloquial) Good-natured, while also being rather unintelligent. [from 20th c.]
    • 2001, Andrew Morton, Posh & Becks, page 190:
      […] he was worried that Michael Parkinson might ask him questions with long words that he wouldn't understand, no doubt fearing a resurgence of the “nice-but-dim” taunts that had all too often come his way.
    • 2002 July 23, John Crace, The Guardian:
      While there was always a touch of the caricature about the Sandhurst cadet as the nice-but-dim public schoolboy, there was also a significant measure of truth.
    • 2007, Joe Studwell, Asian Godfathers, page 169:
      The main difference in Hong Kong was that 1997 witnessed a transition from colonial rule to government by tycoon, as the nice-but-dim shipping heir Tung Chee-hwa became the territory's first chief executive.
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