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Synonyms

mental deficiency

British  

noun

  1. psychiatry a less common term for mental retardation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

One brother died young of kidney failure after suffering from blindness, obesity, hypogonadism and mental deficiency; the other suffered longer after kidney dialysis machines became available.

From Washington Post • Jun. 28, 2022

But Dr. Pike doesn’t think a lack of animal imagery marks a mental deficiency in Neanderthals.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2018

People who knew her said that they never noticed any signs of mental deficiency.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 27, 2016

"We have no idea what we're signing, in an act of legendary mental deficiency."

From BBC • Oct. 17, 2013

Other cases of mental deficiency may be due to an alteration in the pituitary gland.

From Mentally Defective Children by Binet, Alfred

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.