idiot
English
Alternative forms
- idjit, idget (non-standard, indicating the pronunciation /ˈɪd͡ʒət/)
- eejit (Irish, Scottish; non-standard)
Etymology
From Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota.
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) enPR: ĭdĭət, IPA(key): /ˈɪdiət/
- (yod coalescence, non-standard) IPA(key): /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -iət
- Hyphenation: i‧di‧ot
Noun
idiot (plural idiots)
- (derogatory) A person of low general intelligence.
- Only an idiot would fail this exam.
- (derogatory) A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
- We think that people who cycle without a helmet are idiots.
- (obsolete, medicine, psychology) A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.
- 1896, Clifton Johnson, “Folks”, in What They Say in New England (non-fiction), Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Lee and Shepard Publishers, page 105:
- Idiots were thought to be peculiarly under the care of the Deity, and it was believed that those who treated them kindly would be blessed.
- 1956, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 7”, in Sexual Offences Act 1956[1], page 2:
- It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.
Usage notes
- While pejorative, the word is only a weak insult, and between close friends or family members it may be used affectionately.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:idiot
Antonyms
Derived terms
- covidiot
- dipshidiot
- Floridiot
- IDiot
- idiot board
- idiot box
- idiot card
- idioted
- idiot end
- idiotese
- idiotfest
- idiot girl
- idiotic
- idiotish
- idiotism
- idiotist
- idiotize
- idiot light
- idiotlike
- idiotly
- idiot mittens
- idiotor
- idiotorial
- idiot-proof
- idiotry
- idiot-savant
- idiot sheet
- idiot stick
- idiot string
- idiot tape
- idiot tax
- Idiotville
- kiddiot
- mediot
- neo-idiot
- pyramidiot
- radiot
- televidiot
- twidiot
- useful idiot
- vidiot
- village idiot
Related terms
Translations
|
Adjective
idiot (comparative more idiot, superlative most idiot)
Translations
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
idiot m anim (female equivalent idiotka)
- (mildly vulgar) idiot (disliked or slow-witted person)
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hlupák
- idiot (person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old)
Declension
Related terms
Further reading
- “idiot”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
- “idiot”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
- “idiot”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)
Danish
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs).
Noun
idiot
- (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool
Derived terms
References
- “idiot” in Den Danske Ordbog
French
Etymology
From Old French idiot (cf. also the older form idiote), borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
idiot (feminine idiote, masculine plural idiots, feminine plural idiotes)
Noun
idiot m (plural idiots, feminine idiote)
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Polish: idiota
Further reading
- “idiot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs).
Noun
idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idioter, definite plural idiotene)
- (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool
Derived terms
References
- “idiot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs).
Pronunciation
Noun
idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idiotar, definite plural idiotane)
- (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool
Derived terms
References
- “idiot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).
Adjective
idiot m (oblique and nominative feminine singular idiote)
Usage notes
- The form idiote was sometimes used as both masculine and feminine, as a direct borrowing from Latin idiota.
Descendants
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (idiot, supplement)
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French idiot, itself borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).
Pronunciation
Noun
idiot m (plural idioți, feminine equivalent idioată)
Declension
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | ||
nominative-accusative | idiot | idiotul | idioți | idioții | |
genitive-dative | idiot | idiotului | idioți | idioților | |
vocative | idiotule | idioților |
Adjective
idiot m or n (feminine singular idioată, masculine plural idioți, feminine and neuter plural idioate)
Declension
singular | plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | |||
nominative- accusative |
indefinite | idiot | idioată | idioți | idioate | |||
definite | idiotul | idioata | idioții | idioatele | ||||
genitive- dative |
indefinite | idiot | idioate | idioți | idioate | |||
definite | idiotului | idioatei | idioților | idioatelor |
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”).
Pronunciation
Noun
idìot m (Cyrillic spelling идѝот)
Declension
See also
Slovak
Etymology
Derived from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”).
Pronunciation
Noun
idiot m pers (female equivalent idiotka, related adjective idiotský)
Declension
Derived terms
See also
Further reading
- “idiot”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2024
Swedish
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”).
Pronunciation
Noun
idiot c
- (derogatory) an idiot
- Din idiot
- You idiot
- Vilka idioter
- What idiots
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
References
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/iət
- Rhymes:English/iət/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English derogatory terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Medicine
- en:Psychology
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English terms with uncommon senses
- en:People
- en:Personality
- en:Stock characters
- Czech terms with IPA pronunciation
- Czech lemmas
- Czech nouns
- Czech masculine nouns
- Czech animate nouns
- Czech vulgarities
- Czech masculine animate nouns
- Czech hard masculine animate nouns
- Danish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish derogatory terms
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- Rhymes:French/jo
- Rhymes:French/jo/2 syllables
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Personality
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål derogatory terms
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk derogatory terms
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Old French lemmas
- Old French adjectives
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian terms with audio pronunciation
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns
- Romanian adjectives
- Serbo-Croatian terms derived from Latin
- Serbo-Croatian terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns
- Slovak terms derived from Latin
- Slovak terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Slovak terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovak lemmas
- Slovak nouns
- Slovak masculine nouns
- Slovak personal nouns
- Slovak derogatory terms
- Slovak terms with declension chlap
- Swedish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish terms with audio pronunciation
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish derogatory terms
- Swedish terms with usage examples