idiot
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ĭdĭət
ipa: /ˈɪdiət/
note: yod coalescence, non-standard
ipa: /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
rhymes: -iət
Forms: form: idiots
form: idjit
raw_tags: indicating the pronunciation /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
form: idget
raw_tags: indicating the pronunciation /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
form: eejit
Etymology: From Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota.
Senses: examples: text: Only an idiot would fail this exam.
text: After failing a hat-trick of exams, the teacher called him an idiot.
glosses: A person of low general intelligence.
examples: text: He thought people who don't like cricket are idiots. He later got into fights with people who like footabll.
text: We think that people who cycle without a helmet are idiots.
text: “He’s an idiot – in terms of saying that. Everybody knows this. Everybody knows it. Nobody doubts it,” Biden said.
ref: 2019 October 28, Devan Cole, “Biden calls Trump an ‘idiot’ for dismissing Russian election interference”, in CNN:
text: “One of the things that you write so beautifully, and your stuff is so fun to read, but you write about Trump, quote, ‘The way that you build a truly vicious nationalist movement is to wed a relatively small core of belligerent idiots to a much larger group of opportunists and spineless fellow travelers whose primary function is to turn a blind eye to things,’” Kennedy said, reading Taibbi’s own writing back to him.
ref: 2024 November 21, Andrew Kaczynski, “RFK Jr. compared Trump to Hitler and praised descriptions of his supporters as ‘Nazis’”, in CNN:
glosses: A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
examples: text: Idiots were thought to be peculiarly under the care of the Deity, and it was believed that those who treated them kindly would be blessed.
ref: 1896, Clifton Johnson, “Folks”, in What They Say in New England (non-fiction), Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Lee and Shepard Publishers, page 105:
text: It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.
ref: 1956, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 7”, in Sexual Offences Act 1956, page 2:
topics: human-sciences
medicine
psychology
sciences
glosses: A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.
Synonyms: word: addle-brain
word: addlehead
word: addle pate
word: airhead
word: baboon
word: beanbrain
word: beetlebrain
word: beetlehead
word: berk
word: bimbo
word: birdbrain
word: blockhead
word: blubberbrain
word: bonehead
word: Boeotian
word: boob
word: bozo
word: brainlet
word: brickhead
word: bubblehead
word: bubble brain
word: bufflehead
word: buffoon
word: Charlie
word: chowderhead
word: chucklehead
word: chump
word: cittern-head
word: clod
word: clodpate
word: clot
word: clown
word: crackhead
word: cretin
word: cuckoo
word: deadhead
word: dimbo
word: dim bulb
word: dimbus
word: dimwit
word: dingbat
word: ding dong
word: dingleberry
word: dingwad
word: dip
word: dipstick
word: doldrum
word: dolt
word: donut
word: doodle
word: doof
word: doofoid
word: doofus
word: dope
word: dork
word: drivel
word: drongo
word: drool bucket
word: dullard
word: dumb bunny
word: dumbbell
word: dumb cluck
word: dumbhead
word: dumble
word: dumbling
word: dumbnut
word: dumbo
word: dummkopf
word: dummy
word: dunce
word: dunderhead
word: dunderpate
word: eejit
word: fathead
word: featherbrain
word: fenderhead
word: fleabrain
word: fool
word: fopdoodle
word: galoot
word: gimboid
word: gomer
word: gonk
word: goober
word: goof
word: goofball
word: goofy
word: goose
word: goosecap
word: gorbuson
word: gudgeon
word: halfwit
word: ha'porth
word: hammerhead
word: idiot
word: ignoramus
word: imbecile
word: inbred
word: jackaninny
word: jellybrain
word: jerk
word: juggins
word: jughead
word: knothead
word: knucklehead
word: lackwit
word: lamebrain
word: log
word: loggerhead
word: lummox
word: lunk
word: lunkhead
word: maroon
word: meatball
word: meathead
word: mental midget
word: mome
word: momo
word: mongoloid
word: mongtard
word: monkey
word: moron
word: mouth breather
word: muggins
word: mushhead
word: muttonhead
word: mutt
word: nimrod
word: nincompoop
word: ninny
word: ninnyhammer
word: nit
word: nitwit
word: noddy
word: noodlehead
word: numbskull
word: oaf
word: peabrain
word: peagoose
word: pillock
word: pigwidgeon
word: pinhead
word: plank
word: plonker
word: prat
word: put
word: putz
word: retard
word: sap
word: saphead
word: schmo
word: silly
word: simp
word: simpleton
word: snapperhead
word: sot
word: space cadet
word: spanner
word: stupe
word: stupid
word: stupid-head
word: tomfool
word: tard
word: thickhead
word: thickskull
word: thicko
word: tonto
word: toolbox
word: tosspot
word: turkey
word: twit
word: wally
word: wantwit
word: wazzer
word: wazzock
word: witless wonder
word: yo-yo
word: zany
word: Vulgar:
word: ass
word: assclown
word: asshat
word: asshead
word: asstard
word: asswipe
word: buttbreath
word: dildo
word: dipshit
word: donkey dick
word: Alternative spelling of dumbass.
word: dumbfuck
word: dumbfucker
word: dumbshit
word: farthead
word: fuck-knuckle
word: fucktard
word: fuckwit
word: jackass
word: peckerhead
word: shitbrain
word: shithead
word: shitneck
word: shitwit
word: twat
Hypernyms: word: git
word: mentally deficient person
Hyponyms: word: dog that caught the car
Derived terms: cidiot
covidiot
dipshidiot
Floridiot
idiocracy
IDiot
idiotacy
idiot board
idiot box
idiot card
idiotcy
idioted
idiot end
idiotery
idiotese
idiotfest
idiot girl
idiotic
idioticy
idiotish
idiotism
idiotist
idiotize
idiot light
idiotlike
idiotly
idiot mittens
idiotness
idiotor
idiotorial
idiot-proof
idiotry
idiot sandwich
idiot-savant
idiot sheet
idiot stick
idiot string
idiot tape
idiot tax
Idiotville
kiddiot
mediot
neo-idiot
pyramidiot
radiot
shidiot
shitiot
televidiot
twidiot
useful idiot
vidiot
village idiot
Related terms: word: idiocy
word: idiom
word: idiosyncratic
word: idiotic
word: idiotically
word: idiot savant
word: useful idiot
word: foolish
word: insane
word: mad person
word: Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 450a. Absence of intellect
word: Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 499. Imbecility