bubble brain
- noun
- Informal
:
cabeza en las nubes
- After five hours of meetings, I became a complete bubble brain and couldn't answer simple questions.
Examples
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During the stressful week, he admitted feeling like a bubble brain and struggled to concentrate.
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She called herself a bubble brain when she forgot her keys for the third time that week.
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I have a bubble brain!
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After studying all night, I have a serious bubble brain.
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After five hours of meetings, I became a complete bubble brain and couldn't answer simple questions.
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During the stressful week, he admitted feeling like a bubble brain and struggled to concentrate.
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She called herself a bubble brain when she forgot her keys for the third time that week.
Synonyms
A state of mind when you feel unclear and cannot think or decide
A feeling of confusion that makes it hard to think clearly
Busy, messy thoughts that make it hard to focus
A feeling of mental tiredness that makes it hard to think
Antonyms
How Clear-headed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun–noun composition 'bubble' + 'brain' creates a metaphorical image (a brain like a bubble — airy, empty or fragile) that gives a learner some clue towards meanings like being scatterbrained or mentally light. However, this is a creative/slangy formation and the exact sense 'a state of mental distraction or confusion' is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so prior exposure helps.
Etymology
The noun bubble brain may come from the image of a bubble in the brain: thoughts float up like soap bubbles and pop or drift away, so you cannot hold on to them. That's why it is used to mean 'distracted' or 'unable to think clearly'.