dunce hat

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableold-fashioned

   A tall pointed paper cap that a teacher once made a slow-learning pupil wear as a mark of shame.

   Grammar: Often appears with wear or put on: wear a dunce hat.

   Patterns

   • wear a dunce hat
   • put a dunce hat on someone

   In the old cartoon, the lazy pupil sat in the corner wearing a dunce hat.

   Teachers no longer make pupils wear a dunce hat.

   The museum shows a dunce hat from an old schoolroom.

2. 2nouncountablefigurativehumorous

   A symbol of being thought foolish or stupid, especially in a joke or image.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, often in the phrase deserve a dunce hat.

   Patterns

   • deserve a dunce hat
   • wear the dunce hat

   I forgot my own wedding anniversary, so I should wear the dunce hat.

   The cartoon put a dunce hat on the politician.

   After that terrible mistake, he felt he deserved a dunce hat.

Word forms

Common combinations

wear a dunce hat

He joked that he'd have to wear a dunce hat for the day.

dunce hat in the corner

The picture showed a dunce hat in the corner of the classroom.

paper dunce hat

She made a paper dunce hat for the party prank.

put on a dunce hat

The student was told to put on a dunce hat.

dunce hat humiliation

The book describes dunce hat humiliation in old schools.

Synonyms and how they differ

dunce cap

Dunce cap is the same object and is a little more common in American English.

fool's cap

A fool's cap is a jester's hat or an older word for a similar symbol of foolishness.

cone of shame

Cone of shame is a humorous name for the plastic collar worn by a pet after surgery, not for school.

Opposites

Word family

dunce noun

a person seen as slow to learn

dunce cap noun

another name for a dunce hat

dunce's corner noun

the old classroom corner where a punished pupil sat

Commonly confused: dunce hat or dance hat?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “dunce hat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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