Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

half-baked

/ˌhæfˈbeɪkt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.91 in modern English

Syllables: half-baked
IPA: /ˌhæfˈbeɪkt/

22

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a person or thing: incompletely developed or formed; not fully prepared or trained.

Informal

adj

Of a person or thing: incompletely developed or formed; not fully prepared or trained.

Informal

adj

Of a person: having no common sense or intelligence; foolish.

Informal

adj

Of a person: mildly under the influence of alcohol, a drug, etc.

Informal

adj

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: partially cooked by heating in an oven, either as an accidental outcome or as a work in process.

noun

A foolish or stupid person; a fool, an idiot.

British usage; Informal

Example Sentences

"And idolatrous parents hovv carefull they are to nuzzle vp their Poſterity in Superſtition and Idolatry; I vvould our profeſt Popelings, and halfe-baked Proteſtants, did not let vs ſee but too often."
"If we would have hired a good mechanic instead of a half baked kikuyu driver, he would have checked the oil and never burned out that bearing in the truck."
"The guy had some half-baked idea for getting rich in the stock market."
"In short, [William Stanley] Jevons thought that sunspots stunted harvests in India, driving up prices in England and driving down the economy. Though Jevons's theory was more than half-baked, it needed more time in the oven, since he forgot to calculate that poor harvests in Asia would hit England only after a time lag."
"A Cambridgeshire man recently gave notice with a message piped on top of a passion cake. A half-baked idea, or a generous parting gift for the office? [subtitle]"
"[H]e treated his cousin as a sort of harmless lunatic, and, as they say in Devon, "half-baked.""

Etymology

The adjective is derived from half- (prefix meaning ‘incomplete, partial’) or half (adverb) + baked (“cooked by baking; (slang) drunk”, adjective). The noun is derived from adjective sense 1.2 (“of a person: having no common sense or intelligence”).

Word Breakdown

Prefix: half-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌhæfˈbeɪkt/
British English: /ˌhɑːfˈbeɪkt/

Usage

Informal
British usage

Inflected Forms

more half-baked (comparative) most half-baked (superlative) halfbaked (alternative) half baked (alternative) half-bakeds (plural)

Phrases

half-bakedness half-measure need more time in the oven

Frequently Paired Words

half-measure need more time in the oven baked buzzed feeling no pain three sheets to the wind

Synonyms

half-assed half-cocked dough-baked asinine balmy barmy bedaft loony daft derpy dim-headed dim-witted

Antonyms

astute clairvoyant deep frood grounded judicious oracular perspicacious politic profound prudent quick-witted

Questions

How do you pronounce half-baked?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌhæfˈbeɪkt/.
What does half-baked mean?: Of a person or thing: incompletely developed or formed; not fully prepared or trained.
Where does half-baked come from?: The adjective is derived from half- (prefix meaning ‘incomplete, partial’) or half (adverb) + baked (“cooked by baking; (slang) drunk”, adjective). The noun is derived from adjective sense 1.2 (“of a person: having no common sense or intelligence”).

How to pronounce half-baked

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “half-baked”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌhæfˈbeɪkt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “half-baked”.
Repeat and practice — Say “half-baked” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.