idiot

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (2)  · 
“
Surprise - the idiot was also driving with a suspended license.

View all »
Definitions (14)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A foolish or stupid person.
  2. noun A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being 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.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

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

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Right on the first page we are told that the idiot is a creature “lacking in empathy,” a textbooky sort of thing to say that could well have been left for us to conclude from the character's own actions. —  Asimov'sSF,October-November2007
  • The sad fact that there are this many idiots to support another idiot which is looking to make a mockery of our country is disheartening. —  Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com
  • Eno: Mariotti just called Charles Barkley an idiot, which is the epitome of the pot calling the kettle black! —  Out of Bounds
  • September 4th, 2008 8: 07 pm ET ahh, why am I not surprised this idiot is a perfect example of a repub —  CNN Political Ticker
  • I don't think the Raiders can ever again be great as long as the idiot is running the show. —  MVN
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Words tagged idiot

Stats

This word has been looked up 243 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

fool ·  bastard ·  brute ·  liar ·  ass ·  scoundrel ·  villain ·  fellow ·  lunatic ·  wretch ·  beggar ·  criminal

Used in the same contextWord Family

idiot:   idiots
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 (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also ideot; from Middle English idiot, ydiot = Dutch idioot = G. Danish Swedish idiot, from Old French idiot, French idiot = Spanish Portuguese Italian idiota, an idiot, from Latin idiota, an uneducated, ignorant, inexperienced, common person, from Greek ἰδιώτης, a private person, a common man, one who has no professional knowledge, an ignorant, ill-informed man, from ἰδιοῡσθαι, make one's own, from ἴδιος, one's own, peculiar: see idiom.
  2. from idiot, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈɪdɪət/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word a few times a week.

Recently looked up

supernova · inland · Defensiveness · wapiti · apposition

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

autotruncate · rimshot · qualms · poofter · oh for heaven's sake