dunce
劣等生
解説 Definition
学力が低い、知的能力が劣っていると見なされる学生。軽蔑的な表現で、特に学業成績が悪い人を指す。
A dunce is a person who is thought to be slow at learning or not intelligent, especially in a school context. It is an old-fashioned word often used as an insult rather than a neutral description. Because it is strongly negative, it should be used with care.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
dunce は学校の教室を思い浮かべて覚えると定着しやすい語です。student, class, homework, test と結びつけ、「勉強ができない子」「劣等生」を見下して呼ぶ名詞だと押さえるとよいです。単なる poor student より侮蔑が強め。dumb は形容詞で「ばかな」、idiot は人全般に使えますが、dunce は特に学業場面の“できない生徒”に寄りやすい語。dance や dense とつづりを見間違えないこと。古風でかなり失礼なので、自分で使うより読んで分かる語として覚えるのが安全です。
Remember this as a school word. `Dunce` is a noun for a student who is seen as stupid in class, so link it with `homework`, `tests`, and `the classroom`. It is old-fashioned and insulting, which makes it easier to remember as a word you should recognize more than use.
例文
The teacher didn't want to label him as a dunce despite his struggles.
教師は彼の困難にもかかわらず彼を劣等生とはレッテルを貼りたくなかった。
Being called a dunce affected his self-confidence.
劣等生と呼ばれることは彼の自信に影響を与えた。
The dunce in the class eventually became the top student.
クラスの劣等生は最終的にトップの学生になった。
dunce の類義語・関連語
dunce の語源・成り立ち Etymology
dunce は中世神学者 John Duns Scotus の姓 Duns に由来し、当初はその学派の人を指しました。後に古い学問に固執する人という皮肉な意味を経て「劣等生」に変化します。関連語に Duns Scotus、Scotist があります。
Dunce comes from the name Duns, from the medieval scholar John Duns Scotus. At first it meant one of his followers, but later it became a mocking word for people seen as old-fashioned in learning. From there, the meaning shifted further to "slow student" or "stupid person." A related historical term is Scotist.
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