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
Swift's letters paint in terrifying colours a picture of solitude, and at length his despair closed with idiotism.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2 by Isaac Disraeli
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
Such cases tell no more against moral intuitions than do cases of colour-blindness or idiotism tell against sight and reason.
From On the Genesis of Species by St. George Mivart
Can I command myself deaf when she sings, dead when she speaks, or rush into idiotism to avoid her enchantments?
From Anna St. Ives by Thomas Holcroft
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.
