English Explanatory Dictionary

daft

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Foolish, silly, stupid.
  2. Crazy, insane, mad.
  3. Gentle, meek, mild.

Pronunciation

/dɑːft/ dăft /dæft/ en-au-daft.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-daft.wav

Word forms

daft dafter daftest

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).

Synonyms

asinine balmy barmy bedaft loony daft derpy dim-headed dim-witted dopey dull-headed dull-witted dumb duncical fatuous fuzzy-headed fuzzy-minded gauvison goofy idiotic idle insipient mookish naive silly simple slight slow-witted softheaded soft in the head sottish stupid thick unsage unwise wool-headed woolly-headed woolly-minded crackpot dense 5150 bananas barking barking mad buggish buggy bughouse batchy batpoop bats batty bonkers bread baskets cracked crackers cra-cra cray cray-cray crazed crazy

Related words

deft

Derived words

bedaft daft as a brush daften daftie dafty daftish daft laddie daftlike daftly daftness daftsome

Translations

Bulgarian: неразумен Cornish: gocki Czech: praštěný Czech: pitomý Danish: åndssvag Danish: latterlig Dutch: dwaas Dutch: idioot French: dingue French: branque German: albern Irish: amaideach Italian: balordo Italian: balzano Manx: meecheeallagh Māori: rūrūwai Portuguese: sandeu Scottish Gaelic: faoin Spanish: tonto Swedish: fånig Swedish: löjlig Swedish: tramsig Welsh: ffôl Welsh: twp
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