daft
UK /dɑːft/ · US /dæft/ adjective
Forms dafter daftest
- adjective (chiefly UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid. “a daft idea”
- adjective (chiefly UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Crazy, insane, mad.
- adjective (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild.
Synonyms
asinine balmy barmy bedaft loony derpy dim-headed dim-witted dopey dull-headed dull-witted dumb duncical fatuous fuzzy-headed fuzzy-minded gauvison goofy idiotic idle bats batty bonkers buggy cracked crackers dotty fruity haywire kooky
Etymology
From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”). Related to Old English dafnian, dafenian (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), Russian до́брый (dóbryj, “good”). Doublet of deft.
Compare silly which originally meant “blessed; good, innocent; pitiful; weak”, but now means “laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance; mentally simple, foolish”.
Unrelated to, though perhaps influenced by, daff (“fool (n.); to be foolish (v.)”) (past form daffed).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Stupid; folish; idiotic; also, delirious; insance; as, he has gone daft.
- adjective Gay; playful; frolicsome. [Scot.] Jamieson.
Etymology [OE. daft, deft, deft, stupid; prob. the same word as E. deft. See Deft.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “daft”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details