Meaning
In Scots and Scottish usage, glaikit is an adjective meaning foolish, silly, thoughtless, or lacking sense; it can also describe a vacant or foolish-looking expression.
How it is used
Glaikit is evaluative and normally critical. It can judge a person, action, remark, or facial expression as foolish, silly, thoughtless, or blank-looking rather than merely describing something unusual.
Examples
- “Don't stand there looking glaikit—give us a hand.”
- “That was a glaikit thing to say in the meeting.”
- “He had a glaikit expression when the question came up.”
Pronunciation
/ˈɡleɪkɪt/ · GLAY-kit
Tone and register
Usually disparaging or teasing. Depending on relationship and delivery it can range from light mockery to a sharper criticism of someone's sense or behavior.
Visitor guidance
Visitors should mainly recognize the word rather than apply it casually to strangers, because it is a judgment about foolishness or lack of sense rather than a neutral descriptive label.
Cultural context
Older Scots evidence shows glaikit is not a recent comic invention: the Dictionaries of the Scots Language records it centuries ago for senseless or foolish people, actions, and sayings. Modern dictionary labeling still identifies it as Scottish.
Origin
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language attests glaikit in Older Scots by about 1475. Collins likewise dates the word to the fifteenth century while describing its more precise origin as obscure.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.
Comparisons featuring this term
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