cretin
Americannoun
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(no longer in technical use) a person with cretinism.
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Informal. a very stupid or contemptible person.
noun
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old-fashioned a person afflicted with cretinism
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offensive a person considered to be extremely stupid
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cretin
First recorded in 1770–80; from French crétin, originally from French Alpine dialect creitin, crestin “deformed and mentally defective dwarf” (owing to iodine deficiency in Alpine regions); further origin uncertain; perhaps from Vulgar Latin Christiānus “a Christian, human being, unfortunate person,” from Latin Christiānus Christian
Explanation
The English language has no shortage of cruel names for people, and one of them is cretin, which is what you’d call someone who is very, very dumb in the head. Back before cretin meant “a stupid person,” it was a medical term for a physical deformity that came from a specific disease. Surprisingly, the root of cretin is the Swiss French word crestin, which means “Christian.” It seems that people back then wanted to remind themselves that even though cretins look unusual, they’re still humans who deserve kindness. Knowing this makes it hard to use cretin in a mean way, but there are plenty more rude words you could use.
Vocabulary lists containing cretin
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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Dear Martin
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Why do you sacrifice your dignity for this cretin?"
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2023
Mr. McNally originally tore into Mr. Corden, calling the comedian a “tiny cretin of a man” for two separate incidents where he was cantankerous with the wait staff.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 18, 2022
Jon Gruden is sports’ latest cretin in our midst.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2021
Damon’s most deftly portrayed cretin may be Mark Whitacre, the self-dealing, weaselly-mustached corporate whistle-blower in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!”
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2021
Some cretin psychoanalyst would attempt to comprehend the singularity of his worldview.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Pragmatic, good-hearted Ava is the film’s moral center, the one disgusted enough to realize that she, her friends and Southport’s leadership are all cretins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2025
You start to believe that Daniel may be right, that the universe is organized to reward amoral, shallow cretins like him.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2013
Watching them come up with the campaigns, pitching their very souls to cretins, is the pleasure last season kept holding out to the viewers, then pulling back for yet more office drama and unsatisfying death.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2013
In my opinion, only cretins celebrate their failures.
From Inc ● Sep. 5, 2012
If she did end up covering her face, it would be like saying to the world You cretins and peasants are only permitted to see my eyes.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
