BONEHEADED Synonyms: 161 Similar and Opposite Words

boneheaded

adjective

as in dumb

not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily a product with a warning label that even the most boneheaded consumer should be able to understand

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of boneheaded Even inspirational leaders make boneheaded calls, as with firing an innovative defense minister. — Max Boot, Washington Post, 20 July 2026 My most most boneheaded comment. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2026 And there was always something frustrating, always kind of a boneheaded play or a draft pick or something that just kept us from [winning]. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026 Vile’s shaggy-dog spirituality reaches new heights of beautiful, boneheaded simplicity on his latest. — Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2026 As anyone who watches nineties-era romantic comedies knows, there’s a fine line between charming overtures and boneheaded actions that result in deep psychological wounds. — Frederick Dreier, Outside, 11 Feb. 2026 Defensively, he has been known for making exceptional plays but also making boneheaded mistakes. — Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025 Why sane people don’t run for office, a boneheaded move from an Arizona lawmaker and fallout from a Minnesota shooting. — Joanna Allhands, AZCentral.com, 29 Aug. 2025 But despite the intelligence upgrade, some have spotted the AI model still making boneheaded mistakes. — PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for boneheaded

Adjective

Perhaps in writing it, Salinger was trying to negotiate whether his remarkable survival through some of the war’s worst gauntlets could be chalked up to dumb luck, or divine intervention.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
Approaching the plant, there are no telltale dumb-bell silhouettes on the horizon signaling its presence.

— Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of dumb

Adjective

The case that American leadership in this technology carries a genuine security dimension has never looked stupid to me.

— Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
The women are in stupid costumes (Heather Gay is dressed as a leprechaun at one point) and yelling at one another for yet-unknown reasons.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of stupid

Adjective

Researchers used the device to process time-series data, including signals that contained both rapid and slow changes.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2026
However, there is another, slower and more insidious evacuation taking place, and that is the steady migration from rural areas all around the world to burgeoning cities, which now host more than half the world’s population.

— John Vaillant, Time, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of slow

Adjective

The task seemed like a simple one for a digital agent, as the booking form was online.

— Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026
Mungiu refuses to supply easy answers or simple paths to identification in this compelling provocation, which poses unresolvable questions to viewers about our biases and presumptions.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of simple

Adjective

Swathes of those still standing are marked for death, their fate written like braille in the form of scores of tiny holes — no thicker than a dot left by a ballpoint pen — beneath the bark.

— Jack Bantock, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
Eastern handles are shorter and thicker, catering more to those who use a Penhold grip, where the head of the paddle is facing down and the paddle is held like a pen.

— BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of thick

Adjective

All of this is to say that where liabilities are involved, don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

— Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
As some of us will inevitably succumb to its grand and growing illusion, the rest may get the opportunity to find the key to understanding how so many others could be fooled and so foolish.

— Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of foolish

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bonehead

boneheaded

boneheadedness

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“Boneheaded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boneheaded. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of boneheaded

adjective

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