doofus
noun/ˈduːfəs/
Etymology Perhaps an alteration of earlier goofus (first attested in the 1920s), due to influence from Scots doof (“simpleton”). Scots doof is derived from Low German doof (“deaf", with a secondary sense of "idiotic, stupid”). The Low German word is cognate with English deaf. Some have proposed that perhaps dupe played some kind of role in the development of doofus as well.
1
Derogatory, Humorous, Slang A person with poor judgment and taste; a foolish or silly person.
Sometimes affectionately
- Stocks Genius or Dot-Com Doofus? – Wired News
- Danny is such a doofus!
4 more examples
- Nichols had called Bonilla a doofus who was too damn stupid to realize that he was being taken by a hooker with a convincing sob story. Even if Steve was a doofus, Nichols and Rand were quite willing to work for him as long as he had money.1998, Ann Rule, “In the Name of Love”, in In the Name of Love and Other True Cases: Ann Rule's Crime Files Volume 4, page 185:
- They weren't excited about acquiring new information; they were relieved to find out they aren't the only doofuses (or maybe the word is "doofi") in the world of rusty machinery.2000, Roger L. Welsch, Love, Sex and Tractors, page 16:
- 2005 October 17, Kevin Amorin, Mewsday, quoted in 2007, Troth Wells, T-Shirt, page 14, Being too young to attend a show on Bowie's 1983 Serious Moonlight tour, I did what any underage doofus would do. I bought a concert T-shirt – three-quarter-length blue sleeves, image of Major Tom himself on the front.
- "I never seen so many doofuses in one place!" "That's doofi, Krakauer. Sorry to correct you."2009, B. K. Holway, When Jack Was with Us, page 115: