"headdesk" meaning in English

See headdesk in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

IPA: /ˈhɛd.dɛsk/
Etymology: head + desk Etymology templates: {{compound|en|head|desk}} head + desk Head templates: {{en-interj}} headdesk
  1. Used to express frustration or irritated disbelief, from the tendency of annoyed or irritated people to want to repeatedly bang their heads against their desk.
    Sense id: en-headdesk-en-intj-tjiqYOWc Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Verb

IPA: /ˈhɛd.dɛsk/ Forms: headdesks [present, singular, third-person], headdesking [participle, present], headdesked [participle, past], headdesked [past]
Etymology: head + desk Etymology templates: {{compound|en|head|desk}} head + desk Head templates: {{en-verb}} headdesk (third-person singular simple present headdesks, present participle headdesking, simple past and past participle headdesked)
  1. (slang) To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation. Tags: slang Related terms: facepalm, headbang
    Sense id: en-headdesk-en-verb-Oelcc01a

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for headdesk meaning in English (5.4kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "head",
        "3": "desk"
      },
      "expansion": "head + desk",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "head + desk",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "headdesk",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1999 May 30, Antony Espindola, “Re: Top Ten Signs A Guest At Your Memorial Day Barbecue Is A Spy”, in alt.fan.james-bond (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <37513F4E.CB1511E7@Netscape.net>",
          "text": "thump* *thump* *thump* *thump*[1] ... [1] head/desk interface sounds",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 August 16, Mark Green, “Re: Are shy people oppressed”, in alt.support.shyness (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <88139ee2.0108160306.5a56d802@posting.google.com>",
          "text": "And as we leave, the shybies immediately complain that, although they would have liked to be in the musical, it was hardly fair that they were forced to perform with no script or rehearsal and without even a passed audition confirming they were fit for the part; in fact, it could have been done deliberately to oppress and humiliate them. Head, desk. Thump. Thump. Thump.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 October 22, Mariot MacFarlane, “Re: Dickens Faire: looking for garb to borrow”, in alt.fairs.renaissance (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <hGdt9.601$zR7.44124330@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com>",
          "text": "It would still be very fun to do. Sweetie looked at me really funny when I told him about it. He didn't get it either *head-desk, head-desk*",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Shelley Adina, The Fruit of My Lipstick, FaithWords",
          "text": "Headdesk. Gillian, Gillian. You don't need another chemistry class; you need to go to charm school.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Susie Day, serafina67 *urgently requires life*, Scholastic, page 154",
          "text": "Apparently the reason I am weirded out by the idea of Mum getting porny with Invisible Ray Who May Not Even Exist is because I am afraid this means I am being replaced. Er, dude, I am her daughter? And he is (possibly, depending on invisibility/existingness) her bloke? Not. The. Same. *headdesk*",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Susane Colasanti, Something Like Fate, Viking",
          "text": "berrygirl: *headdesk* um, i don't know, maybe because we have absolutely nothing in common? at ALL?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express frustration or irritated disbelief, from the tendency of annoyed or irritated people to want to repeatedly bang their heads against their desk."
      ],
      "id": "en-headdesk-en-intj-tjiqYOWc",
      "links": [
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration#English"
        ],
        [
          "disbelief",
          "disbelief#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛd.dɛsk/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "headdesk"
}

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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        "3": "desk"
      },
      "expansion": "head + desk",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "head + desk",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "headdesks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "headdesking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "headdesked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "headdesked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "headdesk (third-person singular simple present headdesks, present participle headdesking, simple past and past participle headdesked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006 August 8, Tom Tobin, “Re: MR: _manipulator_validate_FIELD() methods?”, in django-users (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <1fb3de5c0608081824j766463g52e109c405b18105@mail.gmail.com>",
          "text": "Hopefully this will save someone else some head-desking; I'll see about writing up a patch for the docs describing this (unless I discover that I've been blind and this is, indeed, documented somewhere). :-D",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jolanta Benal, The Dog Trainer's Complete Guide to a Happy, Well-Behaved Pet, St. Martin's Griffin, page 145",
          "text": "In no time at all you'll be headdesking just like a dog trainer, wailing at people's misinterpretations of their dogs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Leigh Butler, Re-Reading Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, Tor",
          "text": "The only reason I am not actually headdesking at him right now is because I have apparently devoted a disproportionate amount of migraine space to him already, and I wouldn't want to have my indignation at fictional characters distributed unfairly, quelle horreur!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Leah Raeder, Cam Girl, Atria",
          "text": "She made them tell her everything, then had Ellis re-explain in layman's terms while I sat there mentally headdesking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation."
      ],
      "id": "en-headdesk-en-verb-Oelcc01a",
      "links": [
        [
          "bang",
          "bang"
        ],
        [
          "desk",
          "desk"
        ],
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration"
        ],
        [
          "annoyance",
          "annoyance"
        ],
        [
          "exasperation",
          "exasperation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "facepalm"
        },
        {
          "word": "headbang"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛd.dɛsk/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "headdesk"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English compound terms",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English interjections",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "desk"
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    }
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  "etymology_text": "head + desk",
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      "args": {},
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      "name": "en-interj"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1999 May 30, Antony Espindola, “Re: Top Ten Signs A Guest At Your Memorial Day Barbecue Is A Spy”, in alt.fan.james-bond (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <37513F4E.CB1511E7@Netscape.net>",
          "text": "thump* *thump* *thump* *thump*[1] ... [1] head/desk interface sounds",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 August 16, Mark Green, “Re: Are shy people oppressed”, in alt.support.shyness (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <88139ee2.0108160306.5a56d802@posting.google.com>",
          "text": "And as we leave, the shybies immediately complain that, although they would have liked to be in the musical, it was hardly fair that they were forced to perform with no script or rehearsal and without even a passed audition confirming they were fit for the part; in fact, it could have been done deliberately to oppress and humiliate them. Head, desk. Thump. Thump. Thump.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 October 22, Mariot MacFarlane, “Re: Dickens Faire: looking for garb to borrow”, in alt.fairs.renaissance (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <hGdt9.601$zR7.44124330@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com>",
          "text": "It would still be very fun to do. Sweetie looked at me really funny when I told him about it. He didn't get it either *head-desk, head-desk*",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Shelley Adina, The Fruit of My Lipstick, FaithWords",
          "text": "Headdesk. Gillian, Gillian. You don't need another chemistry class; you need to go to charm school.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Susie Day, serafina67 *urgently requires life*, Scholastic, page 154",
          "text": "Apparently the reason I am weirded out by the idea of Mum getting porny with Invisible Ray Who May Not Even Exist is because I am afraid this means I am being replaced. Er, dude, I am her daughter? And he is (possibly, depending on invisibility/existingness) her bloke? Not. The. Same. *headdesk*",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Susane Colasanti, Something Like Fate, Viking",
          "text": "berrygirl: *headdesk* um, i don't know, maybe because we have absolutely nothing in common? at ALL?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express frustration or irritated disbelief, from the tendency of annoyed or irritated people to want to repeatedly bang their heads against their desk."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration#English"
        ],
        [
          "disbelief",
          "disbelief#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛd.dɛsk/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "headdesk"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English compound terms",
    "English interjections",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "head",
        "3": "desk"
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      "expansion": "head + desk",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "head + desk",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "headdesks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "headdesking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "headdesked",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "form": "headdesked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "headdesk (third-person singular simple present headdesks, present participle headdesking, simple past and past participle headdesked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "facepalm"
    },
    {
      "word": "headbang"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006 August 8, Tom Tobin, “Re: MR: _manipulator_validate_FIELD() methods?”, in django-users (Usenet), retrieved 2017-02-08, message-ID <1fb3de5c0608081824j766463g52e109c405b18105@mail.gmail.com>",
          "text": "Hopefully this will save someone else some head-desking; I'll see about writing up a patch for the docs describing this (unless I discover that I've been blind and this is, indeed, documented somewhere). :-D",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jolanta Benal, The Dog Trainer's Complete Guide to a Happy, Well-Behaved Pet, St. Martin's Griffin, page 145",
          "text": "In no time at all you'll be headdesking just like a dog trainer, wailing at people's misinterpretations of their dogs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Leigh Butler, Re-Reading Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, Tor",
          "text": "The only reason I am not actually headdesking at him right now is because I have apparently devoted a disproportionate amount of migraine space to him already, and I wouldn't want to have my indignation at fictional characters distributed unfairly, quelle horreur!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Leah Raeder, Cam Girl, Atria",
          "text": "She made them tell her everything, then had Ellis re-explain in layman's terms while I sat there mentally headdesking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bang",
          "bang"
        ],
        [
          "desk",
          "desk"
        ],
        [
          "frustration",
          "frustration"
        ],
        [
          "annoyance",
          "annoyance"
        ],
        [
          "exasperation",
          "exasperation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɛd.dɛsk/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "headdesk"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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