pencil-neck en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From pencil + neck, popularized by wrestler Freddie Blassie.
Meanings
- (informal) A person with a very thin neck.
-
(US, derogatory, idiomatic) An insubstantial person; a weakling.
Mom said, “Sell it to the circus, what the heck.” / Dad said, “Nope, this one's a pencil neck / And if there's one thing lower than a side show freak / It's a grit eatin', scum suckin', pencil neck geek.”
1977, Pete Cicero, Martin Margulies, “Pencil Neck Geek”, performed by Freddie Blassie & The Geekettes:That pencil-neck from systems isn't going to tell me what I can't do.
On Thursday, March 28, Trump took the stage in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a campaign rally, where he unleashed a new schoolyard nickname: “little pencil-neck Adam Schiff.”
2020, Kevin Sullivan, Mary Jordan, quoting Donald Trump, Trump on Trial, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 217:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pencil-necks | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| pencil neck | alternative | lexicographic | |
| pencilneck | alternative | lexicographic |