Tudor & Stuart · insult · noun
Numskull
NUM-skull /ˈnʌmˌskʌl/pronunciation given by a dictionary
First recorded1697
A dull-witted, stupid person; literally a 'numb skull', from num, an old spelling of numb. The main meaning (a stupid person) has not changed; the word has also long been used for the head itself ('a thick or muddled head'), which is the sense in the Fielding example.
Where it was first recorded
Mary Pix, 1697, per the current OED; Merriam-Webster also gives 1697; Etymonline dates it 1717.
Also spelled: numbskull, numbscull, numscull
In its own time
he would never leave following the nonsensical dictates of his own numskull till she and her family were ruined.
Today
Modern exampleOnly a numskull would reply-all to the entire company with his lunch order.
Fine to use: a mild, old-fashioned, slightly comic way to call someone foolish.
Questions
What does numskull mean?
A dull-witted, stupid person; literally a 'numb skull', from num, an old spelling of numb. The main meaning (a stupid person) has not changed; the word has also long been used for the head itself ('a thick or muddled head'), which is the sense in the Fielding example.
When was numskull first used?
It is first recorded 1697 — Mary Pix, 1697, per the current OED; Merriam-Webster also gives 1697; Etymonline dates it 1717.
Can you still use numskull today?
Fine to use: a mild, old-fashioned, slightly comic way to call someone foolish.
Sources
- numbskull (n.) — Online Etymology Dictionary
- A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose, 1st edition (London: S. Hooper, 1785) — Internet Archive (scan + OCR)
- A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, 'Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'), Francis Grose — Project Gutenberg eBook #5402
- Joseph Andrews (Vol. 2), Henry Fielding — Project Gutenberg eBook #9609
- numskull — Dictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
- numskull — Wiktionary
- numbskull (current OED, earliest evidence) — Oxford English Dictionary
Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: attested — found in the dictionaries and texts listed above