intellectual disability

American  

[in-tl-ek-choo-uhl dis-uh-bil-i-tee] / ˌɪn tlˈɛk tʃu əl ˌdɪs əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. a developmental disorder characterized in varying degrees by significant limitations on intellectual abilities, such as learning, problem solving, and reasoning, and on adaptive abilities such as social and practical skills: the diagnostic term intellectual disability replaced the older designation mental retardation in the 2010s. ID

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Etymology

Origin of intellectual disability

First recorded in 1805–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intellectual disability

That meant this case was no longer going to be a clean vehicle to decide what the IQ line needs to be for intellectual disability under the Eighth Amendment.

From Slate ● May 23, 2026

But the court offered no bright line definition of what would count as an intellectual disability of sufficient seriousness to take the death penalty off the table.

From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2025

The research team also highlighted an unexpected finding: some participants showed only psychiatric symptoms, even though GRIN2A changes are usually linked to epilepsy or intellectual disability.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2025

Clinicians might also be less frequently assigning other labels such as intellectual disability, formally referred to as mental retardation, some data suggest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025

By the time she had turned thirty, prison doctors diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis, intellectual disability, and mental illness related to trauma.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• cognitive impairment
• debilitation
• impairment
• incapacitation
• limitation
• restriction