imbecility

American  

[im-buh-sil-i-tee] / ˌɪm bəˈsɪl ɪ ti /

noun

plural

imbecilities

1. an instance or point of weakness; feebleness; incapability.

2. stupidity; silliness; absurdity.

3. an instance of stupidity, silliness, or absurdity.

4. 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.

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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.

Example Sentences

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

Like few auteurs or hacks before him have managed, Bay has a genius for imbecility; he turns incoherence into its own form of hyperkinetic abstract art.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2017

And Samuel Johnson, its chief tormenter, said that to discuss the play “were to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility, upon faults too evident for detection, and too gross for aggravation.”

From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2011

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