[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/dunce/)

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# dunce

noun (a dunce, dunces)

«dunce» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (old-fashioned, unkind) A person who is slow to learn or thought to be stupid, especially a pupil. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#m1)
2. In «dunce's cap» (dunce cap): a tall paper cone hat that pupils in old schools were made to wear as a punishment. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#m2)

### In the lessons

In old school stories a pupil who got answers wrong was made to sit in the corner in a dunce's cap. Today this is seen as cruel; everyone learns at a different speed, and calling someone a dunce is unkind. Fun fact: the word comes from John Duns Scotus, a clever medieval thinker whose followers were later mocked as «Dunsmen».

### Examples

- In the old school, the dunce had to sit in the corner. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x1)
- The teacher made him wear a dunce's cap. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x2)
- Calling someone a dunce is unkind. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x3)
- Toad acted like a dunce, but he thought he was clever. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x4)
- «I'm such a dunce at maths!» she laughed – but she was wrong. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x5)
- Today no teacher uses a dunce's cap. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x6)
- Once upon a time there lived an old couple who had three sons; the two elder were clever, but the third was a regular dunce. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/#x7)

### Note

Countable. An insult; avoid using it about people. Rhymes with «once».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «dunce» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dunce/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«dunce» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/dunce.html) on Mova free.