Tonto - Wiktionary

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See also: Tonto

English

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Spanish tonto (“stupid, foolish; idiot, fool”), of uncertain etymology. Originally in US use but now chiefly British. Cf. earlier Tonto, with which it is sometimes confused.

Noun

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tonto (plural tontos)

  1. (slang) Synonym of idiot: someone who is foolish or stupid.
    • 1973, Robert Ludlum, Trevayne, page 153:Even us tontos figured that one out.

Adjective

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tonto (comparative more tonto, superlative most tonto)

  1. (slang, possibly offensive) Synonym of crazy.
    • 1982 Feb. 26, New York Times, A10: He told the businessmen that the law that required the certification by the President was ‘tonto’.
    • 1985 Jan. 31, Listener, p. 34: His two heroes are both ex-FO types and both terminally tonto about cricket.
    • 2011, Gil McNeil, Stand by Your Man, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:Yes, and then I got drunk one night and snogged one of his friends, and he went tonto.
    • 2014, Ben Elton, Time and Time Again, Random House, →ISBN:AMERICA! The richest prize on the bloody planet. Gone, for want of a few paltry seats on the cross benches. George the bloody Third wasn't just mad, he was completely tonto!
    • 2021 Feb. 23, Robert Ben L. Wallace, comment at Horse Guards: Whether you're based in Cyprus or you know we do longer tours in Kenya or Oman or are busy just making it to the brigade at the moment up in Estonia, you know it's going to be a busy army and unfortunately we've got a busy adversary now in Putin. Gone full tonto, I think, as I'd say, and you know that's going to be quite... We've got 1,000 people on standby.
    Oi, bruv. He's gone full tonto.
Usage notes
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  • Because of the Native American sense of Tonto popularized by its use as the name of the sidekick of the Lone Ranger, even as a Spanish loanword this term can be understood as a racial slur in English, due to the translation from Spanish to stupid or slow witted. However the word is also found in the Apache language and here translates into “wild one”

Etymology 2

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Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:tonto (beverage)Wikipedia

tonto (uncountable)

  1. a traditional Ugandan fermented beverage made from bananas

References

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  • “tonto, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Anagrams

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  • Toton

Asturian

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Adjective

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tonto

  1. neuter of tontu

Galician

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Etymology

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Unknown. Compare Asturian tontu, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese tonto, Romanian tont or tânt.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtonto/ [ˈt̪on̪.t̪ʊ]
  • Rhymes: -onto
  • Hyphenation: ton‧to

Adjective

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tonto (feminine tonta, masculine plural tontos, feminine plural tontas)

  1. foolish, stupid Synonym: parvo
  2. silly Synonym: parvo

Noun

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tonto m (plural tontos, feminine tonta, feminine plural tontas)

  1. a fool Synonym: parvo

Derived terms

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  • atontecer

References

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  • Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “tonto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
  • Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “tonto”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
  • Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “tonto”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

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Etymology

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Of unclear origin. Compare Portuguese tonto, Romanian tont or tânt, and Spanish tonto.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈton.to/
  • Rhymes: -onto
  • Hyphenation: tón‧to
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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tonto (feminine tonta, masculine plural tonti, feminine plural tonte)

  1. stupid, silly, dumb, foolish

Derived terms

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  • intontire

Noun

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tonto m (plural tonti, feminine tonta)

  1. a fool, a stupid person
  2. goof

Further reading

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  • tonto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Of unclear origin. Compare Italian tonto, Romanian tont or tânt, and Spanish tonto.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtõ.tu/
  • Hyphenation: ton‧to

Adjective

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tonto (feminine tonta, masculine plural tontos, feminine plural tontas)

  1. dizzy
  2. stupid Synonyms: anormal, bobo, estúpido, idiota, pateta; see also Thesaurus:idiota
  3. silly, foolish Synonyms: bobo, pateta, tolo

Noun

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tonto m (plural tontos, feminine tonta, feminine plural tontas)

  1. a fool, a stupid person Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota
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  • tontaria
  • tontice

Further reading

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  • “tonto”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
  • “tonto”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

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Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:tontoWikipedia es

Etymology

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Uncertain. Latin attonitus has been proposed, but there are phonological difficulties, namely unexpected loss of initial /a/ and lack of diphthongization; cf. the expected outcome atuendo. Tonto may have an expressive or onomatopoeic origin. Another hypothesis is that it derives from *tontum, a 'vulgar' past participle for Latin tondeo (“to shear”). Compare Italian tonto, Portuguese tonto, and Romanian tont, tânt, Sicilian ntontu.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtonto/ [ˈt̪õn̪.t̪o]
  • Rhymes: -onto
  • Syllabification: ton‧to

Adjective

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tonto (feminine tonta, masculine plural tontos, feminine plural tontas) (derogatory, mildly offensive)

  1. stupid Synonyms: bobo, estúpido, idiota, retrasado, subnormal, tarado ¿Estás tonto?Are you stupid?
  2. silly, foolish Synonym: bobo

Derived terms

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  • a tontas y a locas
  • architonto
  • caja tonta
  • dame pan y llámame tonto
  • dar más mal que un hijo tonto
  • hacerse el tonto
  • más tonto que Abundio
  • más tonto que mandado hacer de encargo
  • no tener un pelo de tonto
  • salir más caro que un hijo tonto
  • tontísimo
  • tonto de capirote
  • tonto del culo
  • tonto del haba
  • tonto el último
  • tontón (augmentative)

Descendants

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  • → Cebuano: tonto
  • → Tagalog: tonto
  • → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: tunto

Noun

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tonto m (plural tontos, feminine tonta, feminine plural tontas)

  1. a fool, a stupid person

Usage notes

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  • Although in some contexts zonzo, bobo, tonto, menso, culero, tarado, idiota, imbécil, estúpido and pendejo may be synonyms, in most contexts they have a different degree of intensity, with zonzo having the mildest connotation, increasing in intensity in that rough order, to estúpido and pendejo, which have the most offensive meaning.

Derived terms

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  • hacer el tonto
  • mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos
  • pan con pan, comida de tontos
  • tonto del haba
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  • atontar
  • entontecer
  • tontada
  • tontaina
  • tontear
  • tontera
  • tontería
  • tontón
  • tontorrón

References

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  • Badia i Margarit, Antoni M. (ed.) 2006. Homenatge de l'IEC a Joan Coromines, en el centenari de la seva naixença. Barcelona: Institut d'estudis Catalans. Pages 68–70.

Further reading

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  • “tonto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish tonto.

Pronunciation

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  • (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ˈtonto/ [ˈt̪on̪.t̪o]
  • Rhymes: -onto
  • Syllabification: ton‧to

Adjective

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tonto (feminine tonta, Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜈ᜔ᜆᜓ)

  1. (informal, vulgar, offensive) stupid; foolish; silly Synonyms: bobo, tanga, tunggak, gunggong, estupido

Noun

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tonto (feminine tonta, Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜈ᜔ᜆᜓ)

  1. (informal, vulgar, offensive) fool; idiot; simpleton; dunce Synonyms: bobo, tanga, inutil, gunggong, estupido

Further reading

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  • “tonto”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.

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