Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. foolish, stupid, idiotic.

1878		Wkly Kansas Chief (Troy KS) 21 Mar. 2/2: [A] music dealer presented a copy of his new temperance song, ‘To-Night You’ve Been Drinking Again,’ to a Kansas editor [who] got up on his ear [and] swore it was a dad-fetched, ding-batted no-such-thing.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 31/1: Dingbat crazy.
1971		W. Burk Thief 48: I know this sounds dingbat to anyone else, but that is how it really was.
1983		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 2: dingbat – dumb, usually applied to females.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 295: Tell that dingbat maitre d’ to shlep over the sweet nosh wagon.

2. of alcohol, notably strong [i.e. it makes you stupid].

1930

G. Milburn ‘The Moocher’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 224: ‘Too bad,’ thought he, ‘that birds like him / Must stand out in the cold, / So full of derail hooch and all / The dingbat stuff that’s sold.’.