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nice-but-dim

nice-but-dim

9.2
Pleasant and friendly but not very smart
  • adjective
  • Offensive
translation icon : simpático pero tonto
  • Everyone found him nice-but-dim, always eager to help but rarely getting things right.

Examples

  • She played the classic nice-but-dim character in the sitcom, making the audience laugh with her well-meaning mistakes.

  • She is nice-but-dim when it comes to math.

  • My nice-but-dim brother volunteered again, even though he never remembers the instructions.

  • He's a bit nice-but-dim.

  • Everyone found him nice-but-dim, always eager to help but often misunderstanding the simplest tasks.

  • My nice-but-dim brother is friendly to everyone, but he struggles to solve basic problems.

  • In the movie, the nice-but-dim character brought joy to others, despite making silly mistakes.

Synonyms

simple
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
138 8.1

Not smart or quick to understand

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
dim
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
28 6.5

Slow to understand and not quick to learn

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
simple-minded
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
16 7.1

Not very intelligent and too naive about complex things

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
dimwitted
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
6 5.3

Not very smart and slow to understand things

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
gormless
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Someone who is not smart and slow to understand

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
beef-witted
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Slow to understand things and often acting foolishly

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
soft-witted
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
8.8

A person who is slow to understand and easily fooled

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
gaumless
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.9

Slow to understand or act because they are tired

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
low-thoughted
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.9

Showing little intelligence and only simple ideas

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
not the sharpest knife in the drawer
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.1

Not very quick to understand things

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense
sharp as a bowling ball
vsnice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.3

A person who is not smart and is slow to understand things

is pleasant and friendly despite lacking intelligence or common sense

Antonyms

1.9

Shows quick thinking and good understanding

573 1.7

Understands things quickly and finds smart solutions

How Intelligent

brilliant
949 3.7
intelligent
  • US
81 2.7
clever
573 1.7
average
1.0
nice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.2
dim
  • Offensive
28 6.5

Surface Forms

nice-but-dim positive

Morphology

nice-but-dim = nice + dim (transparent) = nice + but + dim

The meaning is directly composed from 'nice' + contrastive 'but' + 'dim' and a B1 learner who knows the components can infer 'pleasant but not intelligent'.

Etymology

Nice-but-dim breaks into nice meaning 'pleasant' and dim meaning 'not bright'. So it describes someone who is friendly and kind but not very clever.