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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

daft en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /dɑːft/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (Australia) audio
  • /dæft/ (General-American, Northern-England)
  • dăft (General-American, Northern-England)

Etymology

From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”). Related to Old English dafnian, dafenian (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), Russian до́брый (dóbryj, “good”). Doublet of deft. Compare silly which originally meant “blessed; good, innocent; pitiful; weak”, but now means “laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance; mentally simple, foolish”. Unrelated to, though perhaps influenced by, daff (“fool (n.); to be foolish (v.)”) (past form daffed).

Meanings

  1. (Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid.
    • You haven't exactly been playing the master tactician through all this, but that seems the daftest course you could possibly have taken. 1990, Iain Pears, The Raphael Affair, London: Gollancz, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Harper, 2014, →ISBN, page 22:
    • Thou art the daftest fuill that ever I saw. / Trows thou, man, be the law to get remeid / Of men of kirk? Na, nocht till thou be deid. 1602, David Lyndesay [i.e., David Lyndsay], Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, in Commendation of Vertew and Vitvperation of Vyce (in Scots), Edinburgh: Printed be Robert Charteris, →OCLC; republished as Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, in Commendation of Vertew and Vitvperation of Vyce (Early English Text Society, Original Series; no. 37), [London]: [Published for the Early English Text Society, by N[icholas] Trübner & Co.], [1869], →OCLC, page 451, lines 2008–2010:
    • So that if a boor complains of a broken-head, or a beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak loud enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour shall be dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge of and punish his demerits, but before a base mechanical burgo-master, who shall menace him with the rasp-house, the cord, and what not, as if he were one of their own mean, amphibious, twenty-breeched boors. 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 188–189:
    • In case you haven't heard of them [the Taipings], I must tell you that they were another of those incredible phenomena that made China the topsy-turvey mess it was, like some fantastic land from Gulliver, where everything was upside down and out of kilter. Talk about moonbeams from cucumbers; the Taipings were even dafter than that. 1985, George MacDonald Fraser, chapter 1, in Flashman and the Dragon: From the Flashman Papers, 1860, London: Collins Harvill, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Plume, 1987, →ISBN:
    • a daft idea
  2. (Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, informal) Crazy, insane, mad.
    • The boy gathered himself up, shook his shaggy head, and, said, in a piteous tone: 'Davie's daft!' 'Davie's daft!' He then kicked the poor idiot till his cries attracted the attention of the guests, some of whom immediately came to the spot: […] 1843 April, “The Vale of Glencoe: A Tale of Scotland”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XXI, number 4, New York, N.Y.: Published by John Allen, […], →OCLC, page 339:
    • "Ow, he is just a wood harum-scarum creature, that wad never take to his studies;—daft, sir, clean daft." / […] / "[W]owff—a wee bit by the East-Nook or sae; it's a common case—the ae half of the warld thinks t'other daft. I have met with folks in my day, that thought I was daft mysell;[…]" / "I cannot make out a word of his cursed brogue," said the Cumbrian justice; "can you, neighbour—eh? What can he mean by deft?" / "He means mad", said the party appealed to, thrown off his guard by impatience of this protracted discussion. 1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Darsie Latimer’s Journal, in Continuation. Sheet 2.”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 143–144:
    • ‘It’s a lee [lie],’ says the man; ‘she’s either drunk or daft.’ / ‘Me drunk, you ill-tongued vagabond!’ says my Auntie Kirsty, who couldna bear such a reproach on her good name, ‘I’m a’ but blackfasting this day from either meat or drink; you had better no meddle wi’ my character.’ 1876, S[arah] R. Whitehead, “On the Wrong Coach”, in Daft Davie and Other Sketches of Scottish Life and Character, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 220:
  3. (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild.
    • There's mirth in the barn and the ha', the ha', / There's mirth in the barn and the ha': / There's quaffing and laughing, / And dancing and daffing; / And our young bride's daftest of a', of a', / And our young bride's daftest of a'. 1825, “Who’s at My Window”, in Allan Cunningham, compiler, The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern; […] In Four Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for John Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 334:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
daftest Degree=Sup lexicographic
dafter Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

daftie (Terms derived from daft) · daften (Terms derived from daft) · daftly (Terms derived from daft) · daftish (Terms derived from daft) · daft laddie (Terms derived from daft) · dafty (Terms derived from daft) · bedaft (Terms derived from daft) · daftsome (Terms derived from daft) · daftness (Terms derived from daft) · daft as a brush (Terms derived from daft) · daftlike (Terms derived from daft)

Relateds

deft

Synonyms

wackadoodle · psycho · balmy · fruit loops · cray-cray · hatstand · idle · nutty · crazy as a pet coon · crackers · sicko · loon · goofy · soft in the head · daffy · bats · wool-headed · dense · psychotic · gaga · loony · nutter · bananas · whacky · insane · dull-witted · slow-witted · mentally ill · batpoop · mad · daft · silly · barmy · whacko · gauvison · crackpot · batshit · thick · nutso · ripshit · kooky · loopy · crazy as a cootie bug · potty · crazy · stupid · duncical · tonto · crazed · lunatic · unsage · fuzzy-minded · nut · distraught · off the chain · daft · batcrap · dull-headed · cra-cra · meshugge · harebrained · loony · off the beam · unsane · buggy · loony tunes · slight · barking mad · cracked · whackjob · fatuous · crazy as a bedbug · 5150 · simple · dotty · derpy · bughouse · bedaft · doolally · fucked in the head · apeshit · nuts · dim-headed · naive · mental · fucked up · bread baskets · over the edge · moonsick · nut job · deranged · barking · nutballs · starkers · woolly-minded · mookish · sottish · disturbed · insipient · batty · unwise · non compos mentis · woolly-headed · nerts · meshigener · dopey · unbalanced · softheaded · idiotic · weird · barmy · eccentric · dumb · batchy · wode · nonsane · cray · buggish · fuzzy-headed · demented · asinine · yampy · bonkers · psychoceramic · bat-shit · crazy as a cootie · screwy · loco · zany · cuckoo · nucking futs · squirrelly · dim-witted

Translations (67)

sv dum (stupid — see also stupid) · ru сумасше́дший (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · cs hloupý (stupid — see also stupid) · cs pitomý (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · lv muļķis (stupid — see also stupid) · fr dingue (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · ru глу́пый (stupid — see also stupid) · de verrückt (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · cs blbý (stupid — see also stupid) · sv sinnessjuk (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · sl besen (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · bg глупав (stupid — see also stupid) · fr simplet (stupid — see also stupid) · de albern (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · pt louco (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · lv aušīgs (stupid — see also stupid) · kw gocki (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · da latterlig (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · da åndssvag (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · fr cinglé (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · nl waanzinnig (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · it balordo (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · cy twp (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · it balzano (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · nl dwaas (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · es tonto (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · mi rūrūwai (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · bg побъркан (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · gv meecheeallagh (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · ga amaideach (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · sv löjlig (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · ru рехнувшийся (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · pl zwariowany (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · pt sandeu (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · lv jucis (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · nl gek (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · cy ffôl (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · ceb buang (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · es estúpido (stupid — see also stupid) · de doof (stupid — see also stupid) · pt estúpido (stupid — see also stupid) · it stupido (stupid — see also stupid) · sl neumen (stupid — see also stupid) · gv meecheeallagh (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · ru безрассудный (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · de bescheuert (stupid — see also stupid) · sl nor (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · sv galen (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · lv stulbs (stupid — see also stupid) · bg неразумен (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · cs praštěný (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · da dum (stupid — see also stupid) · bg ненормален (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · fr branque (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · it scemo (stupid — see also stupid) · ru слабоумный (stupid — see also stupid) · kw gocki (stupid — see also stupid) · de blöd (stupid — see also stupid) · es loco (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · sv fånig (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · nl idioot (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · gd faoin (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · sl zabit (stupid — see also stupid) · tr deli (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · it pazzoide (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad) · sv tramsig (foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly) · cs praštěný (crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad)