Plural of airhead; informal term for people who are silly, scatterbrained, or not very intelligent.
Compound of 'air' (as in something without substance) and 'head.' Originally slang from the 1980s, possibly from the idea of having air where brains should be.
The term 'airhead' is thought to come from dismissing someone's thoughts as empty—'just hot air'—but interestingly, it became gendered in the 80s when 'dumb blonde' stereotypes dominated TV and movies.
Airhead emerged in 1950s-60s American slang coded as derogatory toward women, particularly blonde women, conflating physical appearance with intellect and perpetuating the 'dumb blonde' stereotype.
Use only descriptively for actual empty-headed behavior regardless of gender; avoid applying to women disproportionately or invoking appearance-based stereotypes.
["thoughtless","scatterbrained","inattentive"]
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