idiot

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id·i·ot

(ĭd′ē-ət)

1. A person who is considered foolish or stupid.

2. A person with profound intellectual disability having a mental age below three years and generally unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

[Middle English, ignorant person, from Old French idiote, from Latin idiōta, from Greek idiōtēs, private person, layman, from idios, own, private; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

idiot

(ˈɪdɪət)

1. (Psychiatry) a person with severe mental retardation

2. a foolish or senseless person

[C13: from Latin idiōta ignorant person, from Greek idiōtēs private person, one who lacks professional knowledge, ignoramus; see idio-]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

id•i•ot

(ˈɪd i ət)

n.

1. an utterly stupid or foolish person.

2. a person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years and an intelligence quotient under 25.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Latin idiōta < Greek idiṓtēs private person, layman, person lacking skill =idiō- (variant of idio- idio-) + -tēs agent n. suffix]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

idiot - a person of subnormal intelligence

changeling, cretin, half-wit, imbecile, moron, retard

mongoloid - a person suffering from Down syndrome (no longer used technically in this sense)

simpleton, simple - a person lacking intelligence or common sense

idiot

noun

1. fool, jerk (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), ass, plank (Brit. slang), charlie (Brit. informal), berk (Brit. slang), prick (derogatory slang), wally (slang), prat (slang), plonker (slang), moron, geek (slang), twit (informal, chiefly Brit.), chump, imbecile, cretin, oaf, simpleton, airhead (slang), dimwit (informal), dipstick (Brit. slang), dickhead (slang), gonzo (slang), schmuck (U.S. slang), dork (slang), nitwit (informal), blockhead, divvy (Brit. slang), pillock (Brit. slang), halfwit, nincompoop, dweeb (U.S. slang), putz (U.S. slang), eejit (Scot. & Irish), thicko (Brit. slang), dumb-ass (slang), gobshite (Irish taboo slang), dunderhead, numpty (Scot. informal), doofus (slang, chiefly U.S.), lamebrain (informal), fuckwit (taboo slang), mooncalf, nerd or nurd (slang), numbskull or numskull, galah (Austral. & N.Z. informal) I knew I'd been an idiot to stay there.

2. simpleton, cretin, halfwit the village idiot

adjective

1. stupid, simple, slow, thick, dull, naive, dim, dense, dumb (informal), deficient, crass, gullible, simple-minded, dozy (Brit. informal), witless, stolid, dopey (informal), moronic, obtuse, brainless, cretinous, unintelligent, half-witted, slow on the uptake (informal), braindead (informal), dumb-ass (slang), doltish, slow-witted, woodenheaded (informal) a bunch of idiot journalists

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

idiot

noun

One deficient in judgment and good sense:

ass, fool, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool.

Informal: dope, gander, goose.

Slang: cretin, ding-dong, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck, turkey.

Translations

أَبْلَهٌأبْلَه، مَعْتوهأحْمَق

абдал

idiotblbec

idiottåbe

Idiot Schwachsinnige TrottelTubelBlinse

βλάκας ηλίθιος

idiota imbécil soplagaitas estúpido

idioot

idiootti

idiot connard

אידיוט

idiot

idióta

fífl, heimskingiörviti

idiota idiozia stupido babbeo beota

ばか

바보

idiota

idiotasidiotiškaiidiotiškasidiotizmassilpnaprotystė

idiotsmuļķis

idioot

idiot lite intelligent person

idiota

идиот

idiot

абдал

idiot

mjinga

คนโง่

salak ahmakgeri zekâlı kimse

thằng ngốc

白痴傻子

idiot

[ˈɪdɪət]

A. N (= fool) → tonto/a m/f; (= imbecile) → idiota mf, imbécil mf
you (stupid) idiot! → ¡imbécil!
her idiot son → el idiota or imbécil de su hijo

B. CPD idiot board N (TV) → chuleta f, autocue m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

idiot

[ˈɪdiət] n → idiot(e) m/f
you idiot! → espèce d'idiot !

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

idiot

n → Idiot m, → Dummkopf m, → Schwachkopf m; (old Med) → Idiot(in) m(f), → Schwachsinnige(r) mf; what an idiot! → so ein Idiot or Dummkopf!; you (stupid) idiot! → du Idiot!; where’s that idiot waiter? → wo ist dieser blöde Ober?, wo ist dieser Idiot von Ober?; this idiot brother of mine → dieser Schwachkopf or Dummkopf or Idiot von meinem Bruder; what an idiot I am/was! → ich Idiot!; to feel like an idiot → sich dumm vorkommen; to look like an idiot → dumm aussehen

idiot

idiot board

n (inf) → Teleprompter m

idiot box

n (inf) → Glotze f (inf)

idiot card

n (TV) → Neger m (spec)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

idiot

[ˈɪdɪət] n → deficiente m/f, stupido/a

idiot

(ˈidiət) noun

1. a foolish person. She was an idiot to give up such a good job.

2. a person with very low intelligence.

ˈidiocy noun

ˌidiˈotic (-ˈotik) adjective

ˌidiˈotically adverb

idiot

→ أَبْلَهٌ idiot idiot Idiot ηλίθιος idiota idiootti idiot idiot idiota ばか 바보 idioot idiot idiota idiota идиот idiot คนโง่ salak thằng ngốc 白痴

idiot

a. idiota, imbécil.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Faux, senior, had told his son very frankly, that he must not look to being set up in business by HIM: with seven sons, and one of them a very healthy and well-developed idiot, who consumed a dumpling about eight inches in diameter every day, it was pretty well if they got a hundred apiece at his death.

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His delight was hers; and where many a wise son would have made her sorrowful, this poor light-hearted idiot filled her breast with thankfulness and love.

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Laughing and chattering like the idiot I was fast becoming I fell upon his prostrate form my fingers feeling for his dead throat.

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The boy's such an utter idiot, he'd never learn to answer to it."

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"You are a detestable hypocrite and an idiot!" shouted the Party Manager.

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"But how was it?" he asked, "how was it that you (idiot that you are)," he added to himself, "were so very confidential a couple of hours after your first meeting with these people?

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For the early worshipper was none other than the village idiot, a nephew of the blacksmith, one who neither would nor could care for the church or for anything else.

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I wonder if you were idiot enough to do that, Aynesworth?"

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Suddenly it occurred to her that they might think she was an idiot; Tom had said that her cropped hair made her look like an idiot, and it was too painful an idea to be readily forgotten.

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an idiot; though I know not whether I should not admire her cunning

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But Maud said, "Tut, tut," in gentle reproval, and then asked why I was a blithering idiot.

View in context

Such large virtue lurks in these small things when extreme political superstitions invest them, that in some royal instances even to idiot imbecility they have imparted potency.