ENGLISH
REFERENCE

rodney

n. countable
C2 Proficiency US //ˈɹɑdni// rod·ney

n. a person who is not very smart or who makes silly mistakes. It comes from a character in a famous British comedy show.

n. a person perceived as foolish, incompetent, or socially inept. Derived from the character Rodney Trotter in the British sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses'; primarily used in British English.


SIMPLE

Don't be such a rodney and look where you are going.

CONTEXTUAL

He felt like a total rodney when he realized he had been wearing his shirt inside out all morning.

Origin

From Old English placename Hrōdanīeġ, Hrōdanīġ (literally “Hroda's island”), from Proto-Germanic hrōþiz (“fame”) and awjō (“island”).

Usage

Often used as a mild, informal insult in British English; frequently preceded by 'a total' or 'a bit of a'.

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