Standard Lemma guide

booby

adj · noun · verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbuːbi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːbi
  • CMU ARPABET: B UW1 B IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Stupid; unintelligent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: boobish, boobily, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, beefheaded, beetle-headed, birdbrained, blockheaded, Boeotian, boneheaded, boofheaded, braindead, brainless, bubbleheaded, buffle-headed, bullet-headed, cerebrally challenged, childish, chowderheaded, chuckleheaded, crackbrained, cretinous, daft, dense, dented, dim-bulb, dim-headed, dim-witted, dim, doltish, dopey, dozy, drowsy, dull-headed, dull-minded, dull-witted, dull, dumber than a box of rocks, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatheaded, feeble-minded, flea-brained, foolish, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, goofy, half-brained, half-witted, hammer-headed, idiotic, ignorant, imbecilic, inane, insipid, intellectually challenged, knuckleheaded, lamebrained, lowbrow, lumpish, lunkheaded, mentally challenged, mentally retarded, mindless, monosynaptic, moronic, muttonheaded, nitwitted, numbskulled, oafish, obtuse, peabrained, pratty, pudding-headed, puerile, purblind, quarter-witted, retarded, ridiculous, rockheaded, sharp as a bowling ball, sheep-headed, silly, simple, slow, slow on the uptake, slow-witted, smooth-brained, stolid, stupid, thick-skulled, thickheaded, thickwitted, thick, unapprehensive, unclever, uninformed, unintelligent, unsmart, vacant, vacuous, witless, wooden-headed, wool-headed, woolly-headed, woolly-minded, dumb as a bag of hammers, dumb as a box of rocks, dumb as a doorknob, dumb as an ox, dumb as a post, dumb as a sack of hammers, dumb as dirt, dumber than a rock, not the sharpest crayon in the box, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, not the sharpest tool in the shed, thick as a brick, thick as a plank, thick as champ, thick as mince, thick as two short planks, thick as a whale omelette, ass-brained, fuckwitted, shit-for-brains, thick as pig shit

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Displaying breasts prominently.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Having large breasts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: busty, chesty

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A stupid person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alcatote, asshat, arsehole, asshole, bayard, berk, birdbrain, blither, bobchin, bonehead, bozo, buffoon, brickhead, Charlie, chucklehead, chowderhead, chump, clart, clown, der-brain, dill pickle, dim bulb, dimwit, dingleberry, dipshit, dipstick, dirtbrain, div, divvo, divvy, dolt, donk, doodle, doofus, dope, dork, dote, dotterel, dullard, dumbass, dumbbell, dumbo, dumb fuck, dummy, dunce, dunderhead, dupe, fathead, fenderhead, fiddle, fuckwit, fuzznut, geck, gig, gink, goober, gooseberry, gowk, gubbins, gump, half-baked, ha'p'orth, Homer Simpson, ignoramus, imbecile, jamoke, jerk, jerkoff, jolterhead, jolthead, juggins, jughead, knucklehead, lamebrain, mameluke (US (Italian-American), slang), maroon, meathead, mong, moron, mug, muggins, mushhead, nimrod, nincompoop, nit, nitwit, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, numskull, numps, numpty, nupson, oaf, pillock, pinhead, plonker, prat, retard, shit for brains, shithead, shitwit, schmo, schmuck, smooth brain, snapperhead, softhead, sohai, sot, stupid, sucker, thickhead, tonto, tool, tosser, tosspot, tubelight, twat, twerp, twit, wally, wantwit, wazzock, yampy

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Any of various large tropical seabirds from the genera Sula and Papasula in the family Sulidae, traditionally considered to be stupid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

In the game of croquet, a ball that has not passed through the first wicket.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A breast.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: childish, colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To behave stupidly; to act like a booby.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To install a booby trap on or at (something); to attack (someone) with a booby trap.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

small tropical gannet having a bright bill or bright feet or both

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gannet

11

noun

Meaning 11

an ignorant or foolish person

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dumbbell, dummy, dope, boob, pinhead

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: simpleton, simple

History

Etymology

17th century. From Spanish bobo, from Latin balbus (“stammering”). (bird): Compare typologically Translingual Morus, German Tölpel, Polish głuptak (akin to głupek), Russian о́луша (óluša) (akin to о́лух (ólux)).

Etymology tree English boob Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English booby From boob + -y.

From the earlier form bubby.

Across languages

Translations

72 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: глупак (glupak) — stupid person
  • Dutch: domkop — stupid person
  • Erzya: драков (drakov) — stupid person
  • Estonian: tolvan, tobu, suula — stupid person
  • Finnish: tollo — stupid person
  • German: Tölpel — stupid person
  • German: Narr — stupid person
  • German: Depp — stupid person
  • German: Idiot — stupid person
  • Ido: stulto — stupid person
  • Ido: stupido — stupid person
  • Italian: babbeo — stupid person
  • Polish: głupek — stupid person
  • Polish: gapa — stupid person
  • Portuguese: tolo — stupid person
  • Russian: балда́ (baldá) — stupid person
  • Russian: олух (olux) — stupid person
  • Serbo-Croatian: budala — stupid person
  • Spanish: tonto — stupid person
  • Spanish: pendejo — stupid person
  • Spanish: bobo — stupid person
  • Asturian: mazcatu — bird
  • Asturian: cofre — bird
  • Catalan: mascarell — bird
  • Chinese Mandarin: 塘鹅 (táng é) — bird
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鰹鳥 /鲣鸟 (jiān niǎo) — bird
  • Danish: sule — bird
  • Dutch: jan-van-gent — bird
  • Erzya: драковкш (drakovkš) — bird
  • Esperanto: sulo — bird
  • Faroese: súla — bird
  • Finnish: suula — bird
  • French: fou — bird
  • German: Tölpel — bird
  • Hungarian: szula — bird
  • Ido: ganeto — bird
  • Italian: sula — bird
  • Japanese: カツオドリ (katsuodori) — bird
  • Japanese: 鰹鳥 (katsuodori) — bird
  • Korean: 얼가니새 (eolganisae) — bird
  • Macedonian: блуна (bluna) — bird
  • Manx: gant ommidjagh — bird
  • Mokilese: kupwur — bird
  • Navajo: taahilnoodii — bird
  • Pohnpeian: kupwur — bird
  • Polish: głuptak — bird
  • Portuguese: mergulhão — bird
  • Russian: о́луша (óluša) — bird
  • Spanish: piquero — bird
  • Swedish: sula — bird
  • Vietnamese: chim điên — bird
  • Bulgarian: цици (cici) — woman’s breast
  • Dutch: tieten — woman’s breast
  • Estonian: tiss — woman’s breast
  • Estonian: rind — woman’s breast
  • Finnish: tissi — woman’s breast
  • French: néné — woman’s breast
  • French: nibard — woman’s breast
  • French: nichon — woman’s breast
  • French: robert — woman’s breast
  • German: Titte — woman’s breast
  • Italian: tetta — woman’s breast
  • Italian: zizza — woman’s breast
  • Italian: zinna — woman’s breast
  • Russian: бу́фер (búfer) — woman’s breast
  • Spanish: teta — woman’s breast
  • Spanish: melón — woman’s breast
  • Spanish: bubi — woman’s breast
  • Swedish: tutte — woman’s breast
  • Swedish: patte — woman’s breast
  • Ukrainian: ци́цька (cýcʹka) — woman’s breast
  • Ukrainian: ци́ця (cýcja) — woman’s breast
Real reading context

booby in complete knowledge articles