Dictionary

crackbrained en · ADJ

Etymology

From crack + brained. The word is centuries old, and the original imagery is of a brain that is cracked (broken), but the advent of crack cocaine produced a new surface analysis whereby the word now also suggests a crack(rock)-addled brain. But even with that difference in referents, cognation is involved regardless.

Meanings

1. Idiotic.
   • He shook his head; the milk pail was still at his feet. «You always been a crackbrained sonofabitch anyhow.» 1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC:
   • In order to ſet ſo hopeful a Genius right in this matter, vve have ſent you an anſvver to the ill-grounded Sophiſms of thoſe crack brain'd fellovvs, and likevviſe an eaſy mechanical explication of Perception or Thinking. 1713–1714 (date written), Martinus Scriblerus [pseudonym; Alexander Pope et al.], “Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. […], volume VI, London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton […], published 1751, →OCLC, chapter XII (How Martinus Endeavoured to Find Out the Seat of the Soul, and of His Correspondence with the Free-thinkers), page 151:
   • Ralph is a downtrodden, debt-ridden mailman who lives on a diet of Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and The People's Court; dreams of sudden quiz-show success; and (like his namesake, Kramden) keeps hatching crackbrained get-rich schemes (his latest is a battery-operated jump rope). 1988 February 5, Lawrence Bommer, “The Fan Club”, in Chicago Reader:
   • By degrees, Jean Paul began to be considered not a strange, crackbrained mixture of enthusiast and buffoon, but a man of infinite humour, sensibility, force, and penetration. 1827, Thomas Carlyle, “Jean Paul Friedrich Richter”, in R[alph] W[aldo] E[merson], editor, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays: […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, published 1838, →OCLC, pages 7–8:
   • Could it be, after all, that the whole story was true, and the writing on the sherd was not a forgery, or the invention of some crack-brained, long-forgotten individual? 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

crackbrainedness

Relateds

numbskull · numskull · crackhead

Synonyms

dense · boofheaded · dumb as dirt · beef-witted · dozy · stolid · thickheaded · dull · chowderheaded · cretinous · mindless · dim-witted · dim-bulb · half-witted · peabrained · flea-brained · dull-witted · retarded · slow on the uptake · ass-brained · buffle-headed · ridiculous · goofy · thick as champ · dumber than a rock · silly · insipid · lamebrained · thick as a brick · witless · hammer-headed · oafish · pratty · dumb as a sack of hammers · smooth-brained · woolly-headed · stupid · numbskulled · thick as a whale omelette · brainless · dumb as a doorknob · quarter-witted · mentally challenged · dull-headed · unintelligent · vacuous · thick as two short planks · blockheaded · purblind · monosynaptic · bullet-headed · crackbrained · dim-headed · uninformed · sharp as a bowling ball · dented · dopey · muttonheaded · lunkheaded · drowsy · obtuse · mentally retarded · foolish · fuzzy-headed · boneheaded · simple · vacant · pudding-headed · thick-skulled · beefheaded · daft · unsmart · birdbrained · idiotic · thick · sheep-headed · unclever · fatheaded · intellectually challenged · moronic · childish · puerile · bee-brained · not the sharpest crayon in the box · thick as mince · bubbleheaded · addlepated · dull-minded · feeble-minded · dumb as an ox · cerebrally challenged · ignorant · unapprehensive · wool-headed · fuckwitted · shit-for-brains · chuckleheaded · beetle-headed · slow · dumb · nitwitted · thick as pig shit · dumb as a bag of hammers · lowbrow · fuzzy-minded · dunderheaded · soft · wooden-headed · knuckleheaded · half-brained · doltish · rockheaded · dumb as a post · thick as a plank · dumb as a box of rocks · inane · birdbrained · imbecilic · not the sharpest knife in the drawer · empty-headed · woolly-minded · addlebrained · braindead · slow-witted · Boeotian · airheaded · dim · thickwitted · lumpish · not the sharpest tool in the shed · dumber than a box of rocks

Translations (4)

bg слабоумен (idiotic) · pl pomylony (idiotic) · pl stuknięty (idiotic) · bg побъркан (idiotic)