Hoddypoll

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A dialect term for a silly, dim-witted person, someone regarded as a dolt or blockhead
2. An old regional word for a foolish individual, a dunce or simpleton who lacks good sense
3. Slang from northern English and Scots usage meaning a dull, muddled-headed fool or nitwit

Etymology: A "poll" was once simply the head. The word goes back to Middle English, and its exact origin is uncertain. It survived in old slang for the skull, and it is still found in dialect and in the phrase "poll tax," which taxed people per head. The first half of this compound comes from "noddy," an old word for a foolish person, and the link is the verb "nod," as in dozing or bobbing the head. Put together, the two pieces describe a head that nods like a simpleton's. "Noddypoll" is the better-attested form, and the variant with "hoddy" is a related spelling of the same blockhead insult.