muddleheadn.
/ˈmʌdlˌhɛd/, U.S. /ˈmədəlˌ(h)ɛd/ A muddle-headed person; a disorganized or confused mind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun]
mafflardc1450
juffler15..
dromedary1567
madbrain1570
batie buma1586
addle-head1592
blunderkin1596
nit1598
addle-pate1601
hash1655
blunderbuss1692
blunderhead1692
shaffles1703
fog-pate1732
blunderer1741
puzzle-pate1761
slouch1767
étourdi1768
botch1769
puddle1782
bumble1789
scatter-brain1790
addle-brain1799
puzzle-head1815
shaffler1828
chowderhead1833
muddlehead1833
muddler1833
flounderer1836
duffer1842
muddle-pate1844
plug1848
incompetent1866
schlemiel1868
dinlo1873
drumble-dore1881
hodmandod1881
dub1887
prune1895
foozler1896
bollock1916
messer1926
Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942
spaz1965
spastic1981
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [noun] > disorganized mind
kennel wits1598
muddlehead1938
1833 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. Aug. 154/1 Some boiling muddle-heads of a dupeable sort.
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone 130 His author, who..belongs to the class muddle-head.
1893 H. T. Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk (Eastern Daily Press) 92 That tree du fare to have a muddle head.
1938 H. Nicolson Let. 11 July (1966) 349 About that I think that your dear muddle-head gets confused.
1946 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 17 Apr. 5/1 Senator Johnson..demanded today that War Department ‘muddleheads’ drop their ‘arrogant demand’.
1982 M. Seymour-Smith Robert Graves xvi. 224 Barker.., although somewhat of a muddlehead, was a literate publisher who aimed to produce a literate list.
1999 Guardian (Electronic ed.) 18 Nov. (Diary section) No Ken, no Dobbo was the ultimatum to the Millbank muddleheads supposedly in charge of Labour's selection.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1833