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
"This," he says, "accused me not only of being a bad writer, and a bad man, but with downright idiotism, in flying in the face of the greatest men of my profession."
From Fielding by Austin Dobson
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
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
That which would be considered as an evidence of idiotism or insanity in the last instance, is defended and practised in the former.
From The Maternal Management of Children, in Health and Disease by Thomas Bull
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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.
