different between ninny vs nitwit

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ni/
• Rhymes: -?ni

Noun

ninny (plural ninnies)

1. (informal) A silly or foolish person.

   Synonym: dummkopf

   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene ii^[2]:

     Caliban: What a pied ninny's this! Thou scurvy patch! […]

   • 1962, John D. MacDonald

     Ninny — that soft, smiling, self-effacing, apologetic fellow, the type who is terribly sorry when you happen to step on his foot, the kind you can borrow money from in the certainty he will never demand you repay it.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:idiot

Related terms

• nincompoop
• ninnyish
• ninnyism
• ninnyhammer

Translations

English

Etymology

First attested in the 1910s in the US Northeast. Likely from German nit, dialectal form of nichts (“nothing”), or Yiddish ???? (nit), dialectal form of ????? (nisht, “no”), although some dictionaries give the alternative etymology nit (“louse egg; something very small”) +? wit.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?n?tw?t/

Noun

nitwit (plural nitwits)

1. (informal) A scatterbrained or stupid person.
   • 1918, State Bar Association of Connecticut, Annual Report, page 82

     If you don't remember you are a nitwit. If you do answer, well, you know what the penalty is for perjury.

   • 1921, Emmett Campbell Hall, "Need a Hero be a Nitwit?", The Editor, page 58

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fool

Translations