SIMPLE-MINDED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does simple-minded mean? 

• SIMPLE-MINDED (adjective)
  The adjective SIMPLE-MINDED has 2 senses:

1. lacking subtlety and insight

2. lacking mental capacity and subtlety

  Familiarity information: SIMPLE-MINDED used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIMPLE-MINDED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking subtlety and insight

Context example:

a simple-minded argument

Similar:

naif; naive (marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience)

Derivation:

simplicity (a lack of penetration or subtlety)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lacking mental capacity and subtlety

Synonyms:

dim-witted; simple; simple-minded

Similar:

retarded (relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development)

Derivation:

simplicity (a lack of penetration or subtlety)

 Context examples 

Nor do I particularly affect simple-minded old ladies.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was rather too late in the day to set about being simple-minded and ignorant; but she left her with every previous resolution confirmed of being humble and discreet, and repressing imagination all the rest of her life.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)