dunce cap
1
9.2
- noun
- /ˈdʌns kæp/
:
gorro de burro
- Angier likens such punishment to being "sent to the corner with a dunce cap on."
- wear a dunce cap
- corner with a dunce cap
- dunce cap on his head
Examples
-
Now go put your dunce cap on and stand in the corner for half an hour.
Blog text (7) -
She had placed an imaginary dunce cap on his head and made him face the corner of the room.
Fiction book (2000) -
A 41-year-old employee, who suffered under this measure several times, reports that the dunce cap was moved from desk to desk until it ended up at her desk.
Blog text (21) -
The teacher made him wear a dunce cap in the corner as a punishment for not finishing his homework.
-
During class, the principal joked that the student would look great in a dunce cap if he kept daydreaming.
-
In the old days, children who struggled in school were often sent to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on their heads.
Synonyms
A pointed paper hat put on students' heads to shame them
A cone-shaped paper hat teachers put on students' heads to shame them long ago
Antonyms
How Punitive
39
6.1
- Formal
71
4.6
129
2.2
1
9.2
7
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally transparent: a B1 learner who knows 'dunce' (a slow or poor learner) and 'cap' (a head covering) can readily infer it denotes a hat associated with a dunce. While specific historical details like the cone shape or its use as a punishment may require cultural knowledge, the basic meaning 'a cap worn by a dunce' follows standard noun+noun composition and is therefore transparent.
Etymology
Dunce cap comes from an old school practice: a slow or lazy pupil was made to wear a tall, cone-shaped hat, a dunce cap, so everyone could see they were a 'dunce' or 'stupid'. That's why dunce cap today means a hat used as a 'punishment' to shame a student for poor work.