Nitwit

//ˈnɪtwɪt// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A scatterbrained or stupid person. informal

    "If you don't remember you are a nitwit. If you do answer, well, you know what the penalty is for perjury."

  2. 2
    a stupid incompetent person wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dimwitblockheadairheadassweedblitherblock

Example

More examples

"I don't know what that nitwit could see."

Etymology

First attested in the 1910s in the US Northeast. Likely from German nit, dialectal form of nichts (“nothing”), or Yiddish ניט (nit), dialectal form of נישט (nisht, “no”), although some dictionaries give the alternative etymology nit (“louse egg; something very small”) + wit.

More for "nitwit"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.