Noodlehead

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A foolish individual who often exhibits a lack of sense or intelligence, frequently portrayed as silly or lighthearted in nature
2. A person characterized by their impracticality and lack of wisdom, usually viewed in a humorous or affectionate light
3. A person who acts in a silly or unintelligent way, often jokingly called out for poor judgment

Etymology: "Noodle" here is the older slang sense of the head itself, a playful word for the brain or skull, so a noodlehead is literally someone with a noodle for a head. The "noodle" in that sense dates from the 19th century in American English, and it was the head, not the food, that gave the word its image. "Noodle" had been slang for the head since then, and the compound pairs it with "head" to mean a foolish person. The result is a compound built from two plain English words, with no borrowing from another language involved. Its humour comes from the blunt image of a head that holds something soft and limp, which is what makes the insult land as affectionate teasing rather than harsh abuse.

Synonyms: fool, dunce, simpleton

Antonyms: genius, intellect