thickheadedness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌθɪkˈhɛdɪdnəs/ UK /ˌθɪkˈhɛdɪdnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being stupid or slow to understand

His sheer thickheadedness made explaining the simplest rule exhausting.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being stupid... stupidity obtuseness dullness denseness slowness

Opposites

cleverness intelligence sharpness

Word family

Related forms thickheadedthick-headedthickhead

Etymology

From thickheaded (thick + headed, conveying a dense or dull head) + the abstract-noun suffix -ness.

thicce Old English heafod Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# thickheadedness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌθɪkˈhɛdɪdnəs
**IPA (UK):** ˌθɪkˈhɛdɪdnəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of being stupid or slow to understand

## Examples
- His sheer thickheadedness made explaining the simplest rule exhausting.

## Synonyms
- stupidity
- obtuseness
- dullness
- denseness
- slowness

## Antonyms
- cleverness
- intelligence
- sharpness

## Related Forms
- thickheaded
- thick-headed
- thickhead

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: thicce
- Root: heafod

## Etymology
From thickheaded (thick + headed, conveying a dense or dull head) + the abstract-noun suffix -ness.

## AI Etymology
Thickheadedness is from thickheaded (thick + headed, conveying a dense or dull head) + the abstract-noun suffix -ness. Important recorded forms include thicce (Old English) and heafod (Old English). Morphologically, the native -ness suffix turns an adjective or quality word into an abstract noun naming the state or condition. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers the quality of being stupid or slow to understand. The wider family includes related words such as thickheaded, thick-headed, and thickhead.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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thickheadedness

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