imbecility

[ im-buh-sil-i-tee ]

/ ˌɪm bəˈsɪl ɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR imbecility ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural im·be·cil·i·ties.

an instance or point of weakness; feebleness; incapability.

stupidity; silliness; absurdity.

an instance of this.

Psychology. (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) the state of being an imbecile.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of imbecility

1525–35; earlier imbecillity < Latin imbēcillitās. See imbecile, -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for imbecility

Condescension can be irritating in its expression of hysteria and imbecility, but that comes with freedom of speech.
Obama Loses His Cool|Stanley Crouch|June 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Consternation ruled supreme, treason and imbecility were everywhere charged against the authorities.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
For two years more he lingered, sinking slowly into unconsciousness and imbecility.
Queen Victoria|Lytton Strachey
He moved away reluctantly, and again she almost laughed at his imbecility.
The Swindler and Other Stories|Ethel M. Dell

In imbecility the fault is in the will, rather than in the intellect, in the middle and highest grades.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
At times he was on the border-land of imbecility; his mind looked into a cloudy chaos, a shapeless whirl of nothings.
New Grub Street|George Gissing

Word Origin and History for imbecility

imbecility

early 15c., "physical weakness, feebleness (of a body part), impotence," from Middle French imbécillité and directly from Latin imbecillitatem (nominative imbecillitas) "weakness, feebleness," from imbecillus "weak, feeble," traditionally said to mean "unsupported" (quasi sine baculo), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + baculum "a stick" (see bacillus). "Weakness in mind" (as opposed to body) was a secondary sense in Latin but was not attested in English until 1620s.