cretinism

American  

[kreet-n-iz-uhm, kret-] / ˈkrit nˌɪz əm, ˈkrɛt- /

noun

Pathology.

1. (no longer in technical use) a congenital disease due to absence or deficiency of normal thyroid secretion, characterized by physical deformity, dwarfism, and intellectual disability, and often by goiter: This condition is now diagnosed as congenital hypothyroidism or congenital iodine deficiency.

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cretinism British  

/ ˈkrɛtɪˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. old-fashioned a condition arising from a deficiency of thyroid hormone, present from birth, characterized by dwarfism and mental retardation See also myxoedema

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Etymology

Origin of cretinism

First recorded in 1795–1800; from French crétinisme; see cretin, -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cretinism

The late Gore Vidal explained that one of his ambitions as a historian and novelist was to determine “when the great cretinism began in the United States…when people got really dumb.”

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2024

In children, hypothyroidism can cause cretinism, which can lead to mental retardation and growth defects.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

In 1997, according to Unicef, almost a fifth of its population had goiters — swollen thyroid glands in the neck that indicate serious deficiency, which can also cause dwarfism and cretinism.

From New York Times ● May 15, 2017

Neither cretinism, Laron syndrome nor Down's syndrome duplicate the full suite of features.

From Nature ● Oct. 21, 2014

This superstition of witchcraft has here been strong in all eras, but it is at last becoming extinct; cretinism, as anachronous and as horrible,—a fact, not a superstition,—remains unaccounted for and unlessened.

From A Midsummer Drive Through the Pyrenees by Dix, Edwin Asa

Related Words

• insanity
• lunacy
• madness