slack-jawed

slack-jawed

1. With one's mouth hanging open, as due to surprise or dim-wittedness. I had to clear away the people who were standing slack-jawed on the side of the road, staring at the car wreck.
2. Moronic; very slow or dim-witted. I tried asking for directions at the gas station, but there was just some slack-jawed yokel working behind the counter.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • slack up
  • slack up (on someone or something)
  • slackmaster
  • slack master
  • jaw away
  • (one's) day in court
  • take a dim view of, to
  • (from) top to toe
  • slack off
  • (there's) no peace/rest for the wicked
References in periodicals archive
I find most people to be slack-jawed, talentless, spoiled, entitled, weak, oversensitive, and undeserving of all the taken-for-granted luxuries our culture brings.
The 27-year-old actor wasn't slack-jawed, but clearly awed.
The baffled forces of Scotland Yard are wonderfully captured in a confused-looking bloodhound, slack-jawed and mystified in the face of Macavity's sheer cheek and cunning.
"In terms of photography, I can confirm that he's still trickier to catch than real lightning!" Photographers, sports fans and commentators were left slack-jawed after seeing the image, which was massively shared on social media sites, and on Twitter was tweeted and retweeted thousands of times.
Photographers, sports fans and commentators were slack-jawed after seeing the image yesterday, with one Irish article calling it "the coolest picture of the decade".
After standing there slack-jawed and gaping for a second, suspect number two spins around and runs out, too!
Even Pollard was left gobsmacked by her saucy antics - but not as slack-jawed as our Kerry.
The German man thanked while my mate looked on in slack-jawed amazement.
These guys used the system right in front of us, and we stood there slack-jawed at how simple it was and how great those doors looked when they were done.
Unexpectedly, he allows the camera crew to follow him on his adventures and the youngsters stand slack-jawed as they glimpse the gargantuan creatures they thought only existed in fairy stories.
Slack-jawed New-Yorker Malignaggi has been quick to dismiss Khan's abilities, but it is clear to most that Khan is bigger, faster and stronger.
When the nation's finance sector ended as the world knew it last month, the city's real estate community was left slack-jawed, wondering what it would mean for the commercial and residential markets.
"[Reporters] stick microphones under the noses of whatever slack-jawed gum-chewing vagrants they can find on the street to ask them what they think about oil prices or border security or equalization payments," he said.
Because the farm bill is so unwieldy--it combines everything from commodity support (subsidies) to food stamps--even the most committed food justice advocates often end up slack-jawed and befuddled.
Lucie is clearly deranged (her nose bleeds in the presence of her idol, and she babbles on, slack-jawed, about Lauren's "purity"), and yet she's easily welcomed into Lauren's life, with bodyguards, managers, and ex-boyfriends all lining up to confide in this teen yokel.