imbecile

[im-buh-sil, -suhl, -seel]

noun

1. Informal.,  a dunce; blockhead; dolt.

   Don't stand there like an imbecile. Open the door!

2. Psychology.,  (no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) a person of the second order in a former and discarded classification of intellectual disability, above the level of idiocy, having a mental age of seven or eight years and an intelligence quotient of 25 to 50.

adjective

1. Informal.,  stupid; silly; absurd.

2. Usually Offensive.,  showing mental feebleness or incapacity.

3. Archaic.,  weak or feeble.

imbecile

noun

1. psychol a person of very low intelligence (IQ of 25 to 50), usually capable only of guarding himself against danger and of performing simple mechanical tasks under supervision

2. informal,  an extremely stupid person; dolt

adjective

1. of or like an imbecile; mentally deficient; feeble-minded

2. stupid or senseless

   an imbecile thing to do

Other Word Forms

• imbecilic adjective
• imbecilely adverb
• imbecility noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of imbecile¹

First recorded in 1540–50; earlier imbecill, from Latin imbēcillus “weak”; -ile replacing -ill by confusion with suffix -ile

Word History and Origins

Origin of imbecile¹

C16: from Latin imbēcillus feeble (physically or mentally)