Nimrods

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term originally referring to skilled hunters, often used ironically to describe someone viewed as foolish or inept
2. Referring to individuals perceived as clumsy or incompetent, stemming from a biblical figure known for hunting prowess
3. Describing individuals who lack intelligence or skill, while also alluding to a legendary hunter from biblical narratives

Etymology: The biblical Nimrod was "a mighty hunter", and for most English speakers the name still means a hunter or warrior. In American English, though, "nimrod" has come to mean an idiot, and nobody agrees on exactly how that happened. The OED cites a 1933 play, Hecht and Fowler's Great Magoo, where a character calls a lovesick man "the same old Nimrod", though that line could still carry the hunter sense of someone chasing a woman. Several other routes are proposed. Bugs Bunny's habit of calling Elmer Fudd a "poor little Nimrod" probably used the hunter sense, but it may have nudged the word toward meaning someone easily confounded. John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley uses the word sarcastically of a coroner questioning a hunter who had accidentally shot his partner. Merriam-Webster links the name to the Tower of Babel, a disastrous undertaking, and an 1831 play, The Lion of the West, features a comic Davy Crockett figure called Col. Nimrod Wildfire. Most likely the shift began with mocking uses of the name for a bad or boastful hunter, and the plural "nimrods" simply followed the same path.

Synonyms: fools, simpletons, dullards, dimwits, dullards

Antonyms: geniuses, intellects, smarties, wits, savants