Green’s Dictionary of Slang

jolter-headed adj.

stupid, foolish.

a.1661		‘The Gang’ in Rump Poems and Songs (1662) II 104: He drove on a main / Without any brain, / Such a jolt-head Knave was he.
1690		D’Urfey Collin’s Walk canto I 56: Thou dull Insensible Jolt-headed Fool. [Ibid.] canto II 56: Insensible jolt-headed fool .
1821		W. Scott Kenilworth III 16: How didst thou come off with yonder jolterheaded giant, whom I left with thee?
1838		Dickens Oliver Twist (1966) 34: What charms has it for the young and ill-disposed, what allurements for the most jolter-headed of juveniles?
1842		Wkly Rake (NY) 24 Sept. n.p.: the rake wants to knowWhy a jolter pated chap [...] beats his wife so much.
1849		Lytton Caxtons I Pt iii 127: A worthless, obscure, jolter-headed booby.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple III 219: It might be also that in his jolt-headed way he really was a ‘faithful dependent.’.
1888		S.O. Addy Sheffield Gloss. 120: Jolter-Headed, foolish, stupid.
1894		G.F. Northall Folk-Phrases of Four Counties 39: A jolter-yeded (headed) gaubshite is an insulting phrase in Warw.
1899		POall Mall gaz. 28 Nov. 11/1: [headline] A Jolthead Jest.
1985		T. Murphy Thief of a Christmas in Plays: 2 (1993) Act I: Yeh-yeh-yeh jolter-headed gob-shite!
c.2004		J.H. & J.R. Logsdon ‘Maelstrom’ on Power Ranger Mania 🌐 Corry felt her cool evaporate, as her temper flared. ‘Listen to me, you thick-skulled, jolt-headed oaf!’.