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mental retardation

American  
[men-tl ree-tahr-dey-shuhn] / ˈmɛn tl ˌri tɑrˈdeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. Older Use. intellectual disability.

mental retardation British  

noun

  1. psychiatry the condition of having a low intelligence quotient (below 70)

"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
mental retardation Scientific  

  1. Below-average intellectual ability resulting from a genetic defect, brain injury, or disease, and usually present from birth or early infancy.

Sensitive Note

See retarded.

Etymology

Origin of mental retardation

First recorded in 1900–15

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.

"Mental retardation," Kennedy noted, "disables ten times as many people as diabetes, 20 times as many as tuberculosis."

From Time Magazine Archive

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.