different between duffer vs numskull

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?f?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d?f?/
• Rhymes: -?f?(?)

Adjective

duffer

1. comparative form of duff: more duff

Noun

duffer (plural duffers)

1. (informal) An incompetent or clumsy person.
2. (sports) A player having little skill, especially a golfer who duffs.
3. (archaic) A pedlar or hawker, especially one selling cheap or substandard goods.
4. (archaic) Cheap or substandard goods sold by a duffer.
5. A cow that does not produce milk.
   • 1908, Proceedings of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Volume 8, page 116,

     We have some good cows in this State, but, unfortunately, we have too many duffer cows that are not only being fed and milked at a loss hut are eating up a portion of the profit of the good cow which is being milked alongside them.

   • 1934, Victorian Department of Agriculture, Journal of Agriculture, Volume 32, page 293,

     The truth is that cattlemen love a typical cow for her beauty and symmetry of form ; but every herd-testing dairyman knows that an ugly animal may be a good producer, while many a beautiful cow is a duffer.

6. (Australia, dated) A cattle thief or thief of other livestock; one who alters the brands of cattle.
   • 2011, Clancy Tucker, Gunnedah Hero, unnumbered page,

     The cattle duffer?s escape would have been impeded by those young ones. Calves can be unruly unless you move them carefully in the company of their mothers.
7. A racing pigeon that does not perform well.
8. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Discophora.

Synonyms

• (incompetent person): see Thesaurus:unskilled person
• (livestock thief): see Thesaurus:rustler

Translations

Anagrams

• ruffed

English

Alternative forms

• numbskull

Etymology

numb (“deadened”) +? skull

Noun

numskull (plural numskulls)

1. (derogatory) A dunce, mentally dull or stupid person.
2. (derogatory) A person who refuses to learn or grow mentally.

   That numskull will never learn how to compose a letter.

3. A traditional name for a fool who serves as the butt of jokes about stupidity.

Synonyms

• airhead
• bubblehead
• thickhead
• See also Thesaurus:fool
• See also Thesaurus:idiot

Derived terms

• numpty, numptie

Translations

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967