dunderhead
/ˈdʌn.də.hɛd/
"dunderhead" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dunderhead” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A stupid person; a dunce.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dunderhead · dunderhead · English
dunderhead · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dunderhead |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdʌn.də.hɛd/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dunderhead” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dunderhead is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdʌn.də.hɛd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A stupid person; a dunce.".
dunderhead has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dunder + head. The correct English form is dunderhead, spelled D-U-N-D-E-R-H-E-A-D.
Definition
- 1A stupid person; a dunce.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dunderhead appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You're the stupidest dunderhead I ever saw or ever heard of, so help me Moses!
Poor old fellow's a dunderhead. That's where it is in a nutshell. Never could make a living. […] Nice old chap as ever lived. Only impractical, dreamy. Gentle as a sheep—and no more capable of running that big, expensive plant than a motherly old ewe.
Etymology
From dunder + head.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.