imbecile

American  

[im-buh-sil, -suhl, -seel] / ˈɪm bə sɪl, -səl, -ˌsil /

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.

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adjective

1. Informal. stupid; silly; absurd.

2. Usually Offensive. showing mental feebleness or incapacity.

3. Archaic. weak or feeble.

imbecile British  

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

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adjective

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

2. stupid or senseless

   an imbecile thing to do

Other Word Forms

• imbecilely adverb
• imbecilic adjective
• imbecility noun

Etymology

Origin of imbecile

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

Example Sentences

"I am an imbecile," the man said to the couple as he contemplated taking the long journey back.

From BBC

Tungay said he was "treating the French like imbeciles, making all these so-called tough declarations when the record is so catastrophic".

From BBC

Mr Stratford said they had requested risk and equality impact assessments on the council's decision, but they felt "dismissed" and "treated like we were imbeciles".

From BBC

Argentina’s president, who once called Pope Francis an “imbecile,” met with the pontiff for an hourlong conversation that the Vatican described as “cordial.”

From New York Times

"They were called lunatics and imbeciles, idiots. The terms dementia or schizophrenia weren't known. Psychiatry was an infant science"

From BBC