idiot

[id-ee-uht]

noun

1. Informal.,  an utterly foolish or senseless person.

   If you think you can wear that outfit to a job interview and get hired, you're an idiot!

   Synonyms: numbskull, dunce, dolt, imbecile, half-wit, fool

2. Psychology.,  (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) a person of the lowest order in a former and discarded classification of intellectual disability, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.

idiot

/ ˈɪdɪət /

noun

1. a person with severe mental retardation

2. a foolish or senseless person

Other Word Forms

• idiotic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiot¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin idiōta, from Greek idiṓtēs “private person, layman, person lacking skill or expertise,” equivalent to idiō- (lengthened variant of idio- idio-, perhaps by analogy with stratiōtēs “professional soldier,” derivative of stratiá “army”) + -tēs agent noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiot¹

C13: from Latin idiōta ignorant person, from Greek idiōtēs private person, one who lacks professional knowledge, ignoramus; see _idio-

Example Sentences

The idiots who thought he was dead — or dying — this weekend certainly got played.

From Salon

“Those people, they’re deceased and resting in peace, and you got these idiots doing these things.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Start taxing corporations and the wealthy like we’ve been telling you. Do you think we’re idiots? Do you think we don’t pay taxes? Do you think that we don’t have to make budgets?”

From Salon

"Putin doesn't need to be in our state, much less our country. We have an idiot in the White House that will kowtow to this guy."

From BBC

“Who can identify with a caricatured mob dancing in idiot ecstasy to greet the extraterrestrials?,”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fool 
• moron 
• nitwit 
• twit