moonling

Definitions

1. A simpleton; a lunatic.
   archaic
2. One who is lovesick; one who moons over a beloved.
   archaic, poetic
3. A changeling.
4. Someone from the Moon.

Examples

“I have⟳ a husband, and a two-legg'd one, But such a moonling, as no wit of man, Or roses can redeem from being an ass.”

“Of the members composing this household, there are but two of whom it will be necessary to speak⟳ in this connection; and these are the moonling, or simpleton, and the sister of the wife.”

“But allow⟳ me to say⟳ that you were standing like⟳ a moonling on that road.”

“"Jack is n-not a moonling," Catherine said. "His m-mother became ill before his birth. He c-cannot be blamed for any mental deficiency."”

“The sky was not quite as blue as her—Thunderation, he was no moonling!”

“Remaining there long enough to hear⟳ Those words that moonling longs to hear⟳...I love⟳ you”

“Here he was, reputed to be a rake among rakes, but he discovered, where Thea was concerned, he was as vulnerable and uncertain as the greenest moonling in love⟳ for the first time.”

“"I see⟳. He's a black man. But Jacob Millhaven is not black. Eldridge was left on his doorstep as a baby, and the philosopher adopted him." "Oh! Then he's a moonling! He doesn't seem to suffer⟳ from any stigma."”

“A shy moonling hangs on the suit⟳ of an astronaut and is taken back to earth.”

“For a given walking speed⟳, will an earthling astronaut or a moonling do less, equal, or more work⟳ when taking a stroll on the Moon, and by what factor?”

“This, together with the 'balloon manufactured entirely of dirty newspaper' in which the dwarf/moonling descends at the tale's opening, points to some self-referential satire on behalf of Poe, a newspaperman himself.”

CEFR level