idiocy
Americannoun
-
idiocies
plural
-
utterly senseless or foolish behavior; a stupid or foolish act, statement, etc..
All this talk of zombies coming to attack us is pure idiocy.
- Synonyms:
- folly, inanity, foolishness
-
Psychology. (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) an intellectual disability, previously classified in a now obsolete rubric of developmental disorders as having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.
noun
-
(not in technical usage) severe mental retardation
-
foolishness or senselessness; stupidity
-
a foolish act or remark
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of idiocy
First recorded in 1520–30; from Medieval Latin idiotia “imbecility,” from Hellenistic Greek idiōteía “uncouthness, ignorance,” Greek “state of being a private person”; see origin at idiot, -cy
Explanation
Idiocy is extreme stupidity. If you skied down a dangerous slope with little experience and no helmet, your friends would be right to comment on your idiocy. When someone behaves in a foolish way, showing no evidence that they've thought about their actions, you can call it idiocy. You could scold your little brother, "Your idiocy in the bouncy house made it impossible for anyone else to have fun at the party," or criticize the idiocy of your governor's decision to refuse federal funds for school lunches. The noun idiot came before idiocy, and both words originally had psychiatric meanings that are now obsolete.
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:
To Mr. Flanagan’s enormous credit, he makes the image of a teenager with a lit-up phone in his/her hand emblematic of idiocy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
We live in a golden age of idiocy and confrontation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Denford’s mission is to interrupt the spinning vortex of negativity in which the world is caught by redirecting our energy instead of contributing one more fiery rebuttal to sexist idiocy.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
They were supposed to still be furious at how the Padres had showboated their way to a Game 2 victory that incited Dodger Stadium fans into idiocy, right?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
In time they grew sick of my idiocy.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
What follows is a non-exhaustive list of some of the major idiocies of the year.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 13, 2019
Or should he sit back in his chair and smile calmly at the idiocies of mankind?”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2015
There is wide-open writing here about Chicago, his hometown, and about topics like con men, terrorism, Paris and Vermont, writers like Ralph Ellison and J. D. Salinger and the idiocies of certain critics and scholars.
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2015
The essay that attracted my attention connects data points including the media tour of Bryan Goldberg, upon whom entertaining opprobrium has been heaped for his idiocies in launching Bustle.
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2013
A small victory or two would help her to tolerate their idiocies and would stop her from going crazy.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
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.
