The instructions were so complicated I felt like a complete simpleton.
his silly antics at office parties have earned him a reputation as a simpleton
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Gamble, seeing there was no way to get anywhere with the chancellor playing the simpleton, opened the floor to softball questions.—Thomas Meaney, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024 Americans, even or especially historians, tend to treat the early New Englanders as dogmatists: narrow, pious simpletons.—Marilynne Robinson, Harper's Magazine, 1 July 2022 All three of his major poetry-writing heteronyms, with their distinctive and incompatible orientations to life—a holy simpleton of a shepherd, a moody naval engineer, and a stoical medical student turned Latin instructor—are impressive modern poets, as is Pessoa under his own name.—Benjamin Kunkel, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021 His competition was Forrest Gump, a feel-good studio drama that located America’s soul in a sweet simpleton played by Tom Hanks.—Michael Schulman, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2023 See All Example Sentences for simpleton
Word History
Etymology
simple entry 1 + -ton (as in surnames such as Washington)
Share