idiot

[id-ee-uht]

noun

1. Informal.,  an utterly foolish or senseless person.

   If you think you can wear that outfit to a job interview and get hired, you're an idiot!

   Synonyms: numbskull, dunce, dolt, imbecile, half-wit, fool

2. Psychology.,  (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) a person of the lowest order in a former and discarded classification of intellectual disability, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.

idiot

/ ˈɪdɪət /

noun

1. a person with severe mental retardation

2. a foolish or senseless person

Other Word Forms

• idiotic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiot¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin idiōta, from Greek idiṓtēs “private person, layman, person lacking skill or expertise,” equivalent to idiō- (lengthened variant of idio- idio-, perhaps by analogy with stratiōtēs “professional soldier,” derivative of stratiá “army”) + -tēs agent noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiot¹

C13: from Latin idiōta ignorant person, from Greek idiōtēs private person, one who lacks professional knowledge, ignoramus; see _idio-

Example Sentences

But he carries the pathos of the impressionable idiot.

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“Graham has an anti-Semitic tattoo on his chest. He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff,” she wrote Tuesday.

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Getting treated like an idiot is something else.

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We can continue as useful idiots, decrying “China hawks” who point out that we’re funding our own demise.

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I was just like, trying not to be a stuttering idiot, trying not to blurt out, “I love ‘Pretty Woman’!”

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Related Words

• fool 
• moron 
• nitwit 
• twit