cretin

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“
You don't need an explanation for Daddy, he just always existed as long as the cretin has been alive.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A person afflicted with cretinism.
  2. noun Slang An idiot.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (37)

  • One particularly stupid cretin was apparently convinced that this was all a simulation instead of being horribly, horribly real. —  Wraithbait
  • Call me a cretin -- no, really, go ahead, you'll have plenty of company -- but I think the combination of meaty weekly mysteries paired with even deeper character development sounds quite promising.
  • I am a Coldplay fan, but Bono calling Chris Martin a wanker and a cretin was one of the funniest things I've read in awhile. —  News @U2
  • This cretin is making Jimmy Carter look like Atticus Finch. —  Hot Air » Top Picks
  • Every telephone pole was flagged with signs invoking emancipation of this cretin, and several countries subsequently gave him honorary citizenship.
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French crétin, from French dialectal, deformed and mentally retarded person found in certain Alpine valleys, from Vulgar Latin *christiānus, Christian, human being, poor fellow, from Latin Chrīstiānus, Christian; see Christian.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French crétin, a word of obscure origin, prob. Swiss; by some identified ult. with F. chrétien = English Christian, used, like English innocent and simple, of a person of feeble mind.
 

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/ˈkritɪn/
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