Ways to say it
| Bosnian | Note |
|---|---|
| glup | Latin, masculine |
| tupouman | Latin, masculine |
| tupoglav | Latin, masculine |
| blesav | Latin |
The primary way to describe someone lacking intelligence is with the adjective glup. If you wish to refer to an act of stupidity or the concept of stupidity itself, use the noun glupost.
What does it mean word for word?
The word tupoglav is a compound of tupo, meaning blunt or dull and glava, meaning head, so it literally means "blunt-headed".
Which one should you use?
While glup implies a lack of intelligence, blesav is a milder term used to describe someone being silly, naive or foolish in a non-malicious way. Other variations include the masculine forms tupouman and tupoglav.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective glup changes based on gender and number: glupa is the feminine form, glupo is the neuter form and glupi is the plural form. The words tupouman and tupoglav are masculine forms.
Did you know?
- The root tupo in tupoglav is the same word used to describe a knife that is too dull to cut.
- While glup is a direct insult, blesav is often used affectionately to describe someone who is merely quirky or absent-minded.
- The word glup shares its ancient roots with the Czech word hloupý, as both descend from the same Proto-Slavic ancestor.
Examples in context
- Tvoj potez je bio glup, ali smo se dobro nasmijali.Your move was silly, but we had a good laugh.
- On je veoma glup.He is very stupid.
- To je glup potez.That is a stupid move.
- Njegov glup komentar nas je iznenadio.His stupid comment surprised us.
Example conversation
Jasmina and Emir are discussing a bad decision made by a friend.
- JasminaMožeš li vjerovati šta je uradio?Can you believe what he did?
- EmirDa, bio je baš glup u toj situaciji.Yes, he was really stupid in that situation.
- JasminaNadam se da će naučiti lekciju.I hope he will learn a lesson.
- EmirSumnjam u to, Emir.I doubt that, Emir.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stupid” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries glup, tupoglav, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Tvoj potez je bio glupan,…” – I would have to disagree with this example. That should have been “Tvoj potez je bio glup…” or “Tvoj potez je bio glupav,” “glup” and “glupav” are adjectives, whereas “glupan” is a noun and it only applies to a male person. A female stupid person is “glupaca”, with that c as in “ch”.
Hvala! You’re right, glupan is a noun. The example now reads Tvoj potez je bio glup.