idiot

American  

[id-ee-uht] / ˈɪd i ət /

noun

• idiots
  plural

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.

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idiot British  

/ ˈɪdɪət /

noun

1. a person with severe mental retardation

2. a foolish or senseless person

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• idiotic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• idiots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of idiot

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

Explanation

An idiot is someone who does foolish things. If you take your little brother's dinosaur lunchbox to school instead of your own brown-bag lunch, you might feel like an idiot. But don't be too hard on yourself — we all make mistakes. The word idiot originated in the 1300s, from the Old French word idiote, which meant "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning." Today, though, idiot describes anyone who does foolish things, especially things that inconvenience others. If you put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven but forget to turn it on, in four hours, you'll have a cold turkey and a bunch of relatives calling you an idiot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

idiot idiots

The tornado that transported Dorothy Gale from dusty Kansas to vibrant Oz might have swept up the village idiot instead.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

“I’ve changed a lot as a filmmaker, but I’m still the same idiot I’ve always been,” says Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

The judge, Mr Justice Garnham, described Lavrynovych as a "useful idiot" who could be easily manipulated.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

"People understood very quickly that an idiot was driving and they fled."

From Barron's ● May 4, 2026

Lying there snoring and sleeping like a lazy little idiot, and all the while Redwall Abbey and his friends were under attack!

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

“We all feel like idiots for not trying to buy it at $135,” he said, referring to the stock’s initial listing price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

"They are not idiots - they know that social media will film and amplify these videos for them and and they have made sure the response looks national."

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026

When useful idiots play along, the hypocrisy is double: Perpetrators pretend to be humane, and apologists pretend to believe them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

Sortor later complained that he was detained, saying “these idiots called the police on me, saying I had a gun and was ‘running innocent protestors over.’”

From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026

“I’m impressed that the two of you managed to find this many idiots who wanted to do this,” says Zara, stepping farther away from the water, into the shade of a tree.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• fool
• moron
• nitwit
• twit