idiot
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L1144615 on Wikidata ↗noun
- person of low intelligence
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɪdiət/ / /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
adj
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. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.
- Idiotic, stupid.
noun
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. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.
- A person of low general intelligence.
“Only an idiot would fail this exam.”
“After failing a hat-trick of exams, the teacher called him an idiot.”
- A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
“He thought people who don't like cricket are idiots. He later got into fights with people who like football.”
“We think that people who cycle without a helmet are idiots.”
- 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.
“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.”
“It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.”