imbecility
Americannoun
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imbecilities
plural
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an instance or point of weakness; feebleness; incapability.
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an instance of stupidity, silliness, or absurdity.
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Psychology. (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) an intellectual disability, previously classified in a now obsolete rubric of developmental disorders as having a mental age of seven or eight years and an intelligence quotient of 25 to 50.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of imbecility
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English inbecillite, from Middle French imbecil(l)ite and Latin imbēcillitāt-, stem of imbēcillitās “weakness”; see imbecile, -ity
Explanation
Stupid or inane behavior is imbecility. Picture a frat party gone wild, and you can picture imbecility. Foolishness that would be typical of an imbecile is imbecility. Imbecility is from the Latin imbecillitatem, meaning “weakness, feebleness.” If you are feeble of mind or weak on intellect and act accordingly, that is imbecility. For instance, you may have witnessed a college party that was so rife with imbecility that you were amazed that the participants were students in an institution of higher education.
Vocabulary lists containing imbecility
"The Five Orange Pips" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Tales from Earthsea
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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.
See Examples For:
When Constanze reaches her breaking point, Mozart’s imbecility is exposed as fragility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
Artistic expression and intellectual inquiry are replaced by a new dark age, the triumph of tawdry spectacle and the celebration of crowd-pleasing imbecility.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2022
He mortified them with tales of imbecility and treason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2018
“If the motivation is immaturity and teenage imbecility, there ought to be alternatives available in all 50 states.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2015
In his life, Donald wrapped himself in a kind of quiet that, depending on the observer, signaled imbecility or a reservoir of mystery.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
It’s about the soul-draining imbecilities of office life at an organization that resembles the United Nations.
From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2020
And by the time they have finished reading of all the stupidities, confusions and downright imbecilities that humanity tolerates, the moon is likely to seem just as far away as ever.
From Time Magazine Archive
From stump to stump across the land, he would blast the imbecilities of the age.
From Time Magazine Archive
New York Tribune: "Mr. Leacock has never deviated . . . from his attitude as the unimpassioned protestant against the countless shams and imbecilities in which our common life is drenched."
From Time Magazine Archive
A man so gifted could express all the imbecilities he liked.
From The Paliser case by Edgar Saltus
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.
