Definition

Adjective: * (used informally) stupid, obtuse, slow to understand or learn: Describes a person who is not intelligent, lacks quickness of mind, or is stubbornly insensitive to ideas or reasoning. The term is informal and often implies a thick, unyielding quality to one's lack of understanding, like wood.

Usage

This adjective is used informally and critically to describe a person's perceived lack of intelligence or stubborn foolishness. It is more colorful and emphatic than simply saying "stupid." * It typically precedes a noun (e.g., a wooden-headed approach) or follows a linking verb like "be" or "seem" (e.g., He was being utterly wooden-headed). * It carries a connotation of frustration on the part of the speaker.

Examples

• "His wooden-headed refusal to listen to expert advice cost the company dearly."
• "Don't be so wooden-headed! The instructions are clear."
• "She grew frustrated with her partner's wooden-headed insistence on doing things the old, inefficient way."

Advanced Usage

• The term can be applied metaphorically to ideas, plans, or systems that are stupidly inflexible or poorly conceived.
  • "The policy was a wooden-headed solution to a complex social problem."

Variants and Related Words

• Blockheaded (adj.): Having a similar meaning, suggesting a head as solid as a block.
• Boneheaded (adj.): Very stupid; foolish.
• Thickheaded (adj.): Slow to understand; dull.
• Dense (adj.): Slow to understand; obtuse.

Synonyms

• Stupid
• Obtuse
• Dull
• Foolish
• Unintelligent
• Dense
• Dim-witted

Idioms and Related Phrases

• Thick as two short planks: A British idiom meaning very stupid.
• Not the sharpest tool in the shed: A common idiom implying a person is not very intelligent.

Adjective

1. (used informally) stupid