idiot

See also Idiot

English

Etymology

From Middle English from Old French idiote from Latin idiota from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiotēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”) from ἴδιος (idios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”); ἰδιώτης was used derisively in ancient Athens to refer to one who declined to take part in public life.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈɪd.iː.ət/, SAMPA: /"Id.i:.@t/
• (Ireland, Scotland) IPA: /iːdʒɪt/, SAMPA: /i:dZIt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

idiot (plural idiots)

1. (pejorative) A common term for a person of low general intelligence.

   usage note This may be used pejoratively, as an insult. It is a weak insult, however, and between close friends, family members, or lovers, is often completely nonaggressive.

2. (obsolete) A medical or psychological term meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old.

Synonyms

• (all): eejit (Irish English)
• See also Wikisaurus:idiot

Antonyms

• genius

Related terms

Related terms

idiocy idiom idiosyncratic idiotic

idiotically idiot savant useful idiot

Translations

person of low general intelligence

Arabic: غبي (ar) (ghábiy) m., غبية (ar) (ghabíyya) f., plural: أغبياء (ar) (’aghbiyaa’) m. pl. Basque: ergel Bengali: মূর্খ (bn), বেক্কল (bn) Bulgarian: идиот (bg) (idiót) m., абдал (bg) (abdál) m. Catalan: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Cantonese: 死蠢 (sei2 ceon2), 白痴 (baak6 ci1) Mandarin: 白痴 (cmn) (báichī), 傻子 (cmn) (shǎzi), 蠢貨 (cmn), 蠢货 (cmn) (chǔnhuò), 傻瓜 (cmn) (shǎguā), 笨蛋 (cmn) (bèndàn), 白痴 (cmn) (báichī) Croatian: idìot (hr) m. Czech: idiot (cs) m. Danish: idiot (da) c. Dutch: idioot (nl) m. Estonian: idioot (et) Finnish: idiootti (fi), typerys (fi), hölmö (fi), pöljä (fi), urpo (fi) French: idiot (fr) m. German: Idiot (de) m., Idiotin (de) f. Greek: ηλίθιος (el) (ilíthios) m. Hebrew: אידיוט (he) Hindi: मूर्ख (hi) (mūrakh), पागल (hi) (pāgal), बेवकूफ (hi) (bēvakūph) Hungarian: idióta (hu) Icelandic: hálviti (is) m., asni (is) m., grasasni (is) m., skynskiptingur (is) m. (obsolete) Irish: amadán (ga)

Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: 馬鹿 (ja) (ばか, baka), あほ (ja) (aho), 白痴 (ja) (はくち, hakuchi) Korean: 백치 (ko) (baekchi) Latin: idiota (la) m. Latvian: muļķis (lv) m., muļķe (lv) f. Luhya: omsilu Macedonian: абдал (mk) (ábdal) m. Malay: bodoh (ms) Norwegian: idiot (no) m. Polish: idiota (pl) m., idiotka (pl) f. Portuguese: idiota (pt) m. and f. Romanian: idiot m., idioată f., idioți pl., idioate f. pl. Russian: идиот (ru) (idiót) m., идиотка (ru) (idiótka) f., дурак (ru) (durák) m., дура (ru) (dúra) f., дурень (ru) (dúren') m. Scots: stookie Scottish Gaelic: amadan m., òinseach f., burraidh (gd) m. Serbian: абдал (sr) m. Slovak: idiot (sk) m. Spanish: idiota (es) m. and f. Swahili: mjinga (sw), kichwamaji (sw) Swedish: idiot (sv) c. Telugu: వెధవ (te) (vedhava) Turkish: salak (tr) Vietnamese: thằng ngốc (vi) Volapük: (male or female) diotan (vo), (male) hidiotan (vo), (female) jidiotan (vo)

person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old

Greek: ιδιώτης (el) (idiótis) m., μικρόνους (el) (mikrónous) m.

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Czech

Noun

idiot m.

1. idiot (disliked or slow-witted person)
2. idiot (person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old)

Related terms

• idiotský
• idiocie

See also

• blb
• blbec
• kretén
• debil

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /i.djo/, SAMPA: /i.djo/
• Homophone: idiots

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

idiot m. (f. idiote, m. plural idiots, f. plural idiotes)

1. idiotic; stupid

Noun

idiot m. (plural idiots; feminine idiote, plural idiotes)

1. idiot

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Romanian

Noun

idiot m. (plural idioți; feminine equivalent idioată)

1. idiot, moron, imbecile

Synonyms

• prost, tâmpit, imbecil, cretin

Adjective

idiot

1. stupid, idiotic, foolish, absurd

Synonyms

• prost, tâmpit, stupid

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /idǐot/
• Hyphenation: i‧di‧ot

Noun

idìot m. (Cyrillic spelling идѝот)

1. idiot

Declension

    declension of idiot

	singular	plural
nominative	idiot	idioti
genitive	idiota	idiota
dative	idiotu	idiotima
accusative	idiota	idiote
vocative	idiote	idioti
locative	idiotu	idiotima
instrumental	idiotom	idiotima

See also

• glùpan
• blèsan
• krètēn

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Slovak

Noun

idiot m., idioti pl.

idiot stem

idiota gen sg

declension pattern chlap

1. (pejorative) idiot

Derived terms

• idiotický -á -é
• idiotizmus m.

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

idiot c.

1. (pejorative) idiot

Declension

Declension of idiot

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	idiot	idioten	idioter	idioterna
genitive	idiots	idiotens	idioters	idioternas