slack-jawed

comparative more slack-jawed · superlative most slack-jawed · alternative slackjawed

1. With the mouth in an open position and the jaw hanging loosely, especially as indicating bewilderment or astonishment.

   The Pudgelys and the Pinkhearts and the Roundasses are all staring at her, slackjawed.

   1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 33

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   For one frightful moment there was no sound; even the men's breathing was hushed, and they sat slack-jawed, stunned, half-minded to believe this some hideous, incredible jest.

   1911, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 26, in The Ne'er-Do-Well

   Synonyms: dazzled, dumbfounded, open-mouthed, stunned

2. broadlyUnsophisticated or unthinking; dimwitted in appearance.

   She brought to the stage the barefoot, slack-jawed frontiersmen found on postcards in every convenience store and tourist trap in the Ozarks.

   2002, Brooks Blevins, Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and their Image, →ISBN, page 262

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   But driving a car—particularly the supersize models—really should demand more concentration than, say, slouching slack-jawed in front of the wide screen in your den.

   2005 July 24, Michelle Cottle, “My Roving Barcalounger”, in Time, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2005

   Synonyms: dopey, stupid, stupefied

3. datedOverly talkative; indiscreet.

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   As a matter of fact, it was by trying to lean on it that Spencer Clay got hold of the facts of the case; and when young Clay got hold of anything, Marois Bay at large had it hot and fresh a few hours later; for Spencer was one of those slack-jawed youths who are constitutionally incapable of preserving a secret.

   1917, P. G. Wodehouse, “Wilton's Holiday”, in The Man with Two Left Feet and Other Stories

   Synonyms: big-mouthed