gormless

gormless
adjective Etymology: alteration of English dialect gaumless, from gaum attention, understanding (from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaum, gaumr) + -less Date: 1883 chiefly British lacking intelligence ; stupidgormlessness noun, chiefly British

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • gormless — (adj.) c.1746, wanting sense, a British dialectal word, from gome notice, understanding (c.1200), from O.N. gaumr care, heed, of unknown origin; + LESS (Cf. less) …   Etymology dictionary

  • gormless — ► ADJECTIVE Brit. informal ▪ stupid or slow witted. DERIVATIVES gormlessly adverb gormlessness noun. ORIGIN from dialect gaum «understanding», from an Old Norse word meaning care, heed …   English terms dictionary

  • gormless — [gôrm′lis] adj. [altered < dial. gaumless < gaum, gome, care < ME gome < ON gaum, akin to OE gieme, care, Goth gaumjan, to heed] [Brit. Informal] slow witted; stupid …   English World dictionary

  • gormless — gorm|less [ˈgo:mləs US ˈgo:rm ] adj BrE informal [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: gaumless lacking understanding (18 20 centuries), from gaum understanding (18 19 centuries), from Old Norse gaumr heed, attention ] very stupid ▪ a gormless grin ▪ a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • gormless — I Australian Slang (of a person) dull; stupid; senseless (variant of dialect gaumless , from gaum attention, heed) II Scottish Vernacular Dictionary Without gorm, a clueless incompetent. Example: See thae eejits up in the Parly, thurr gormless… …   English dialects glossary

  • Gormless — A gormless person is someone who has absolutely no clue. You would sayclueless. It is also shortened so you could say someone is a total gorm or completely gormy …   The American's guide to speaking British

  • gormless — [[t]gɔ͟ː(r)mləs[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you say that someone is gormless, you think that they are stupid because they do not understand things very well. [BRIT, INFORMAL] …   English dictionary

  • gormless — adjective BrE informal stupid, especially in appearance: a gormless grin gormlessly adverb gormlessness noun (U) …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • gormless — /gawrm lis/, adj. Chiefly Brit. Informal. gaumless. [resp. by speakers with r less accents] * * * …   Universalium

  • gormless — adjective /ˈɡɔːmləs/ a) Lacking intelligence, sense or discernment, often implying lack of capacity of will to remedy the condition. b) Inexperienced, naïve, innocent to the point o …   Wiktionary

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