(Noun). Vulgar pejorative slang for a spectacularly stupid person. It is a very recent addition to the British insults lexicon and the stand-out survivor of many similar made-up insults such as wankpuffin, nobsocket and shitflute.
The word is often used to describe politicians and I suspect that use reached its peak during Donald Trump’s term at the White House – though Boris Johnson’s continued tenure of no.10 means that the word is unlikely to fall out of use any time soon.
So where does cockwomble come from? We all know what a cock is of course but Americans may not be familiar with a womble. A womble is in fact a fictitious, pointy-nosed creature created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children’s novels from 1968. Wombles live in burrows, and they collect and recycle rubbish in creative ways (long before it became fashionable). The characters gained a higher national profile in the UK in the mid-1970s as a result of the popularity of a BBC-commissioned children’s television show. They also had a number of hit songs which reached the top of the UK charts. They were very annoying indeed. You can meet the little buggers here.
Similar meaning: Idiot, Plonker (UK), Numpty (UK), Retard (US), Doofus (US).
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