barminessn.
/ˈbɑːmɪnɪs/ Weakness of intellect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [noun]
frailtyc1384
doting1440
barrenness1552
dottry1576
dotishness1598
feeble-mindedness1619
unfurniture1640
ungiftedness1647
flaccidity1778
weak-mindedness1854
flabbiness1883
touchedness1883
dottiness1885
barminess1896
dodderingness1915
moronism1922
1896 Westm. Gaz. 30 May 8/1 Should not ‘balmy’ be ‘barmy’? I have known a person of weak intellect called ‘Barmy Billy’... The prisoner..meant to simulate semi-idiocy, or ‘barminess’, not ‘balminess’.
1908 E. V. Lucas Over Bemerton's vi. 60 I heard what sounded like a sarcastic sniff deprecative of her uncle's barminess.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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n.1896