Word.ws English Dictionary

dunsel

Syllables: dun·selUK/ˈdʌnsəl/

dunsel noun: something (especially part of a vessel) that is useless, or superfluous or unnecessary.

Noun

dunsel (plural dunsels)

  1. Something (especially part of a vessel) that is useless, or superfluous or unnecessary.
    • If I'm not part of the crew and earn my keep, then I'm a dunsel. And you'll not have a dunsel aboard long […]1982, Marteen Dee Graham, Silver Sundown, New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing, →ISBN, page 42
    • [page 229] For those of you who don't recognize the term, dunsel was a term first used in Star Trek to characterize Captain Kirk in the episode "The Ultimate Computer." The plotline was about a scientist, Doctor Richard Daystrom, who installs a computer that is designed to operate the Enterprise...2007, Mark S. Kadrich, “Linux”, in Endpoint Security, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, pages 229 and 234
  2. (broadly) A captain of a vessel who has little or no practical use.
    • McCoy: “Who the blazes is ‘Captain Dunsel’?” / Spock: “Dunsel, Doctor, is a term used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part which serves no useful purpose.”[1968, D[orothy] C[atherine] Fontana, “The Ultimate Computer”, in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 2, episode 53 (DVD), Hollywood, Calif.: Paramount Pictures, published 2014, →ISBN
    • DUNSEL – slang term for token human commanders aboard EDF [Earth Defense Force] rammer ships.[2005, Kevin J[ames] Anderson, Scattered Suns (The Saga of Seven Suns; book 4), New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN, glossary

Forms of dunsel

pluraldunsels

Origin of dunsel

Possible coinage as a variation of English dunnage as dun + -sel with the suffix indicating singulative or diminutive. Earliest so-far documented use was in a Star Trek episode, "The Ultimate Computer". Was coined by a writer for the original "Star Trek" series (Episode name: The Ultimate Computer.").

Phrases with dunsel

Questions about dunsel

What does dunsel mean?
Dunsel means something (especially part of a vessel) that is useless, or superfluous or unnecessary.
What part of speech is dunsel?
Dunsel is a noun.
How do you pronounce dunsel?
Dunsel is pronounced /ˈdʌnsəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of dunsel?
The plural of dunsel is dunsels.

Words near dunsel in the dictionary

  1. dunsails
  2. Dunsanian
  3. Dunsany
  4. Dunscore
  5. Dunscroft
  6. dunsel
  7. dunsel cap
  8. dunsel caps
  9. dunsels
  10. Dunsfold
  11. Dunsford

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dunsel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “dunsel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dunsel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.