• (RP) IPA: /dɑːft/
• (British, GA) enPR: dăft, IPA: /dæft/

daft (comparative dafter, superlative daftest)

1. (chiefly, Britain, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:foolish

   a daft idea

   • 1819, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. [...] In Four Volumes, volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: Printed [by James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], OCLC 277985465 ↗, pages 188–189 ↗:

     So that if a boor complains of a broken-head, or a beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak loud enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour shall be dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge of and punish his demerits, but before a base mechanical burgo-master, who shall menace him with the rasp-house, the cord, and what not, as if he were one of their own mean, amphibious, twenty-breeched boors.

2. (chiefly, Britain, informal) Crazy, insane, mad.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:insane

   • 1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Darsie Latimer’s Journal, in Continuation. Sheet 2.”, in Redgauntlet, a Tale of the Eighteenth Century. [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, Edinburgh: Printed [by James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., OCLC 926803915 ↗, pages 143–144 ↗:

     "Ow, he is just a wood harum-scarum creature, that wad never take to his studies;—daft, sir, clean daft." / […] / "[W]owff—a wee bit by the East-Nook or sae; it's a common case—the ae half of the warld thinks t'other daft. I have met with folks in my day, that thought I was daft mysell; […]" / "I cannot make out a word of his cursed brogue," said the Cumbrian justice; "can you, neighbour—eh? What can he mean by deft?" / "He means mad", said the party appealed to, thrown off his guard by impatience of this protracted discussion.

3. (obsolete) Gentle, meek, mild.

• bedaft
• deft

• French: dingue, branque
• German: albern
• Italian: balordo, balzano
• Portuguese: sandeu
• Spanish: tonto

• French: cinglé
• German: verrückt
• Italian: pazzoide
• Portuguese: louco
• Russian: сумасше́дший
• Spanish: loco

• French: simplet
• German: blöd, bescheuert, doof
• Italian: stupido, scemo
• Portuguese: estúpido
• Russian: глу́пый
• Spanish: estúpido