These words are all informal pejoratives for people who behave in stupid or foolish ways. Blockhead , dolt and dunce suggest foolish behaviour that results from a lack of intelligence. Blockhead suggests a dense, slow-witted person who predictably misunderstands information or is filled with exasperatingly obvious ideas or attitudes: a party at which he talked with one insufferable blockhead after another. Dolt specifically suggests a lack of flair, imagination or perception that results from cloddish conventionality: dolts in the audience who liked her medley of show-tunes better than her group of Schubert songs. Dunce may suggest a momentary failure of intelligence rather than a permanent lack of it: He made a dunce of himself by forgetting the name of the guest of honour.

Fool , idiot and chump need not suggest a lack of intelligence. All can suggest silly or ridiculous behaviour that arises from any number of causes: letting the woman make a fool of him; don’t be an idiot ?accept the offer of a new job. Chump , besides being a much more informal substitute for fool , can indicate somebody who allows himself to be come the butt of a joke or confidence game: looking for chumps who could be lured into buying worthless share certificates. Chump can also be a severely contemptuous term for any sort of unsophiscated or ordinary person: chumps dumb enough to be taken in by sensational journalism. Like a chump or a fool , a dill is easily taken in or can usually be relied on to do the stupid or naive thing: a bit of a dill , the way he always lets others take advantage of him.

The remaining group of words relates to the last suggestion of chump and dill in indicating contempt for ordinary or simple people. When it is not an informal substitute for fool , boob suggests a heavy, stupid person. Nincompoop has particular relevance in describing a foolish man, suggesting a weakling afflicted by timidity and passivity: situation comedies that stereotype husbands as bumbling nincompoops . Ninny can apply to either sex, but may be particularly useful in reference to foolish women, suggesting silly, precious or prissy behaviour: a ninny who wrote saccharine poems about butterflies and daffodils.