addle pate
nounEtymology From addle (“confused”) + pate (“head”).
1
Archaic A foolish or dull-witted person.
- Then he executed a war-dance, and at its close stepped before Crawford, regarded him for an instant, and croaked out: “Addle-pate! Addle-pate!” “Upon my word, I believe you are the foul fiend himself,” muttered Mark.1882, Frank Lee Benedict, “Miss Alderly's Law-Suit”, in Peterson's Magazine, volumes 81-82, page 443:
2
Archaic Such a person’s brain or mental faculties.
- Am I to be ramshaklt out of the super nakullums in spite o’ my teeth? Yea and go softly! I crack the nut and you eat the kernel! I tellee once again you’ve an addle pate o’ your own! [...] Squire Nincompoop!1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives:
- “Go to bed, and don’t bother your addle pate about your neighbours. Can’t a man cut up a few sticks without your coming to investigate?”1910, Grace S. Richmond, Red Pepper Burns:
- Related terms
- addle-pated