Plonker

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈplɒŋ.kə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A foolish or stupid person, or something that is dropped or falls heavily
2. A person showing a lack of intelligence or common sense ; an object that descends with a loud or awkward impact
3. Someone behaving in an unintelligent or clumsy manner ; an item that drops in a noisy or ungraceful way

Etymology: "Plonker" is simply "plonk" with the agent suffix "-er" added, and the suffix itself has a long pedigree. The "-er" ending descends from Latin "-arius," which passed into Old English as "-ere," and from there into Middle English. In Old French the same Latin suffix took the form "-ier," which is why English words ending in "-er" for a person who does something share ancestry with French words ending in "-ier." The base word, "plonk," is the more recent and more unusual part. It is an imitative word for a dull, heavy sound, and it is the source of the familiar slang for cheap wine. A plonker, then, is someone who plonks, a person who drops things down clumsily, and from there the word came to mean a foolish, blundering person. The ending does the same job as in "banker" or "hooker," turning an action into the one who performs it, and the sense of blundering comes from the clumsy thud the base word describes.

Synonyms: fool, idiot, dunce

Antonyms: genius, smart person