Definition of "duffer" [duf•fer]

• Informal An incompetent or dull-witted person. (noun)
• Informal A casual or mediocre player of a sport, especially golf. (noun)
• Slang A peddler of cheap merchandise. (noun)
• Slang Something worthless or useless. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Those who were of the type who would jump in and shovel a neighbor's car out of a snowbank based on decent concepts of neighborliness, and the sure knowledge that some old duffer is going to have a heart attack if they don't, are similar to those who felt the rest of us needed their help (Pat Tillman comes to mind)."
• "A loaf of bread, about three and a half inches wide and deep by seven inches long, was known as a "duffer," and a cracker as "hardtack.""
• "Later she took the impenitent young 'duffer' a tea cunningly designed to appeal to his rebellious heart, and spread it neatly on the big dimity-covered box in his bedroom; but Dick was implacable."