idiotism
1 Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of idiotism1
First recorded in 1585–95; idiot + -ism
Origin of idiotism2
1580–90; < Latin idiōtismus < Greek idiōtismós a vulgar phrase, peculiar way of speaking
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.
We have become so used to the thought that any higher literacy is in retreat before the forces of electronic media and consumer idiotism, that perhaps to imagine the opposite has become impossible.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 25, 2011
Yes, Fairfax, longer to palliate, or wilfully be blind to the partial edicts and haughty ordonnances of this proud beauty, were idiotism!
From Anna St. Ives by Thomas Holcroft
The most ignorant only are the most inveterately brutal: but nothing less than idiotism, or madness, can absolutely deprive man of his propensity to do good.
From The Adventures of Hugh Trevor by Thomas Holcroft
They had not advanced to the still more horrid stages of palsy, apoplexy, epilepsy, idiotism, St. Vitus's dance, blindness, or insanity.
From The Young Man's Guide by William A. (William Andrus) Alcott
The expressions are in the preter tense, and it would be downright idiotism to say that a man could prophecy in the preter tense.
From Writings of Thomas Paine — Volume 4 (1794-1796): the Age of Reason by Moncure Daniel Conway
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
