Addlepate
/ˈæd.əl.peɪt/noun
A foolish or muddleheaded person.
Did you know?Addlepate combines addle, an old word for something putrefied or muddled, with pate, an archaic word for the head, so the insult originally meant a head made rotten or confused.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
æddela
“dregs; refuse; muddle”
Middle English
ME
addle
“liquid filth, muck; later, to confuse or make rotten”
Old French
OF
paste
“paste, dough; by extension, soft mass”
Middle English
ME
pate
“head, skull; the top of the head”
16th Century
English
addlepate
“a foolish or muddleheaded person”
Modern English
English
addlepate
“a foolish or muddleheaded person”