addlepated

English

Etymology

From addle +‎ pated.

Adjective

addlepated (comparative more addlepated, superlative most addlepated) (possessional)

1. Addled; confused; stupid; flustered.
   • 1630, John Taylor, “Plutoes Proclamation concerning his Infernall pleasure for the Propagation of Tobacco”, in All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet‎^[1], London: James Boler, page 252:

     Let euery idle addle-pated gull
     With stinking sweet Tobacco stuffe his skull.

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 16, in Anne of Green Gables‎^[2], Boston: L.C. Page, page 169:

     “ […] I don’t really know if I’m doing right—it may make you more addle-pated than ever—but you can ask Diana to come over and spend the afternoon with you and have tea here.”

   • 1989, John Irving, chapter 9, in A Prayer for Owen Meany‎^[3], New York: William Morrow, page 456:

     “Do you actually expect me to wander the world as if I were an addlepated bald woman escaped from the circus?” she would say.

   • February 14, 2018, Charles Solomon in the LA Times, Nick Park is back in the stop-motion animation game with 'Early Man'

     His best-known creations are the addlepated, cheese-loving inventor Wallace, and Gromit, his patient, intelligent dog.

Alternative forms

• addle-pated

Derived terms

• addlepatedness