Oaf

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əʊf/

Definitions

1. A person who is awkward, lacking grace or coordination and often appearing unintelligent
2. Someone behaving in a socially awkward or unintelligent manner due to clumsiness or lack of tact
3. An individual seen as physically ungainly and slow-witted, often causing unintended trouble

Etymology: The story of "oaf" is a changeling tale. Originally, "auf" (or "awf," "aufe") meant a child left behind by the fairies in place of a human baby, a creature thought to be dull, sickly, or slow. The idea was that a fairy-substituted child would never grow up sharp, which is why the word came to mean a dimwitted person and then a clumsy one. The word probably traces back to Old Norse "álfr," meaning "elf," which fits the fairy association. Old English had a closely related word, "ælf," and English ended up with "alf" and "elf" as well, so "oaf" is a doublet of both. Over the centuries the sense narrowed from the supernatural to plain stupidity, and the initial "n" of "an auf" was misheard as "a nauf," which is why the word appears as "oaf" today.

Synonyms: clumsy person, lout, fool, buffoon, dunce

Antonyms: genius, intellectual, sophisticate, expert, wizard