idiot

See also: Idiot and IDiot

English

Alternative forms

• eejit (Irish English, eye dialect)
• idjit, idget (eye dialect)

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪd.i.(j)ɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

idiot (plural idiots)

1. (derogatory) A person of low general intelligence.
2. (derogatory) A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
3. (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.

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

• genius

Related terms

• idiocy
• idiom
• idiosyncratic
• idiotic
• idiotically
• idiot savant
• useful idiot

 

Translations

person of low general intelligence

• Albanian: idiot (sq) m
• Arabic: أَحْمَق m (ʔaḥmaq), غَبِيّ m (ḡabiyy), مُغَفَّل m (muḡaffal)
• Armenian: ապուշ (hy) (apuš), հիմար (hy) (himar), էշ (hy) (ēš)
• Azerbaijani: idiot (az), axmaq (az)
• Basque: ergel
• Belarusian: ду́рань m (dúranʹ), ідыёт m (idyjót), ідыётка f (idyjótka)
• Bengali: মূর্খ (murkho), বেক্কল (bekkol)
• Bulgarian: идио́т (bg) m (idiót), абда́л (bg) m (abdál), идио́тка f (idiótka)
• Burmese: ဗာလ (my) (bala.)
• Catalan: idiota (ca) m or f
• Chichewa: chitsiru
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 死蠢 (sei² ceon²), 白痴 (baak⁶ ci¹)

  Mandarin: 白痴 (zh) (báichī), 傻子 (zh) (shǎzi), 蠢貨／蠢货 (zh) (chǔnhuò), 蠢货 (zh) (chǔnhuò), 傻瓜 (zh) (shǎguā), 笨蛋 (zh) (bèndàn), 白痴 (zh) (báichī), 蠢材 (zh) (chǔncái)

• Czech: idiot (cs) m
• Danish: idiot c
• Dutch: idioot (nl) m
• Esperanto: idioto
• Estonian: idioot
• Finnish: idiootti (fi), typerys (fi), hölmö (fi), pöljä (fi), urpo (fi)
• French: idiot (fr) m, idiote (fr) f
• Galician: babeco (gl) m, parvo (gl) m, mascato m, babiolo (gl) m, doudo m, pallouco m, lores m, paspán (gl) m, alpabarda (gl) m, mouco (gl) m, marmeco m, láparo m, inteño m, miñoto m, bouto m, idiota m
• Georgian: იდიოტი (idioṭi)
• German: Idiot (de) m, Idiotin (de) f
• Greek: βλάκας (el) m (vlákas), ηλίθιος (el) m (ilíthios)

  Ancient: βλάξ m (bláx)

• Hebrew: אִידְיוֹט (he) m (idyót), גולם \ גֹּלֶם (he) (gólem)
• Hindi: मूर्ख (hi) m (mūrkh), बुद्धू m (buddhū), उल्लू (hi) m (ullū), बेवक़ूफ़ m (bevqūf)
• Hungarian: idióta (hu)
• Icelandic: hálviti m, asni (is) m, grasasni (is) m, skynskiptingur m (obsolete)
• Indonesian: bodoh (id)
• Irish: amadán, dúramán m
• Italian: idiota (it) m or f, squasimodeo m
• Japanese: 馬鹿 (ja) (ばか, baka), あほ (aho), 白痴 (はくち, hakuchi)
• Kazakh: ақымақ (kk) (aqymaq), идиот (idiot)
• Khmer: ល្ងីល្ងើ (km) (lŋii-lŋəə)
• Korean: 백치 (baekchi), 바보 (ko) (babo), 등신 (ko) (deungsin)
• Kyrgyz: акмак (ky) (akmak), идиот (ky) (idiot)
• Ladin: totl m, musciat
• Lao: ຄົນບັດຊົບ (khon bat sop), ຄົນໂງ່ (khon ngō), ໂງ່ (ngō)
• Latin: blennus m, idiota m, fungus m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: idiots m, idiote f, muļķis (lv) m, muļķe f, duraks (lv) m
• Lithuanian: idiotas m
• Luhya: omsilu
• Macedonian: абдал m (abdal), идиот m (idiot), идиотка f (idiotka)
• Malay: bodoh
• Manx: thoot m
• Maori: hukehuke, heahea, rorirori, pōhauhau, hākawa
• Middle English: sot
• Mongolian: эргүү тэнэг (ergüü teneg), зүүлэг (mn) (züüleg), тэнэг (mn) (teneg)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ɗaɓa class 5/6
• Norman: peûle m
• Norwegian: idiot (no) m
• Persian: احمق (fa) (ahmagh), کودن (fa) (kowdan), خنگ (fa) (kheng), ابله (fa) (ablah), کانا (fa) (kânâ)
• Polish: idiota (pl) m, idiotka (pl) f
• Portuguese: idiota (pt) m or f
• Romanian: idiot (ro) m, idioată (ro) f, idioți pl, idioate f pl
• Russian: идио́т (ru) m (idiót), идио́тка (ru) f (idiótka), дура́к (ru) m (durák), ду́ра (ru) f (dúra), ду́рень (ru) m (dúrenʹ)
• Sanskrit: मूढ (sa) m (mūḍha), निर्बुद्धि (sa) m (nirbuddhi), मूर्ख (sa) m (mūrkha)
• Scots: stookie
• Scottish Gaelic: amadan m, òinseach f, burraidh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: идѝот m

  Roman: idìot (sh) m

• Slovak: idiot m
• Slovene: idiot m
• Spanish: idiota (es) m or f
• Swahili: mjinga (sw), kichwamaji (sw)
• Swedish: idiot (sv) c
• Tagalog: bobo (tl), tanga, ungas
• Tajik: аблаҳ (tg) (ablah), аҳмақ (tg) (ahmaq)
• Telugu: వెధవ (vedhava)
• Thai: คนโง่ (kon-ngôo), ไอ้งั่ง, คนโง่เง่า, คนบ้า, คนปัญญาอ่อน, โง่ (th) (ngôo), ควาย (th) (kwaai)
• Turkish: salak (tr), ahmak (tr)
• Turkmen: akmak (tk)
• Ukrainian: ідіо́т m (idiót), ідіо́тка f (idiótka), ду́рень (uk) m (dúrenʹ)
• Urdu: مورکھ m (mūrkh), بیوقوف m (bēvaqūf), الو m (ullū), بدھو m (buddhū)
• Uzbek: idiot, ahmoq (uz)
• Vietnamese: thằng ngốc, thằng ngu
• Volapük: (♂♀) diotan (vo), (♂) hidiotan, (♀) jidiotan
• Welsh: twpsyn m, ynfytyn (cy) m
• Yiddish: אידיאָט m (idyot)

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

• Bulgarian: идиот (bg) m (idiot)
• Dutch: idioot (nl) m
• Greek: ιδιώτης (el) m (idiótis), μικρόνους (el) m (mikrónous)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: idiots m, idiote f
• Persian: کالیو (fa) (kâliv)

Adjective

idiot (comparative more idiot, superlative most idiot)

1. (uncommon) idiotic, stupid

Translations

idiotic — see idiotic

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Czech

Noun

1. (mildly vulgar) 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

• bezmozek
• blb
• blbec
• blbeček
• blboun
• debil
• debžot
• dement
• hlupák
• hlupec
• hlupoň
• hňup
• imbecil
• janek
• Janek
• kretén
• pablb
• pako
• pitomec
• slaboduch
• tupec
• tupoň
• tupoun
• ťulpas
• vymaštěnec
• vypatlanec
• zabedněnec

Further reading

• Template:R:PSJC
• Template:R:SSJC

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Danish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot

1. (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool

Derived terms

• idiotsikker
• kraftidiot

References

• “idiot” in Den Danske Ordbog

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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

• IPA^(key): /i.djo/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: idiots
• Rhymes: -jo

Adjective

idiot (feminine idiote, masculine plural idiots, feminine plural idiotes)

1. idiotic; stupid

Noun

idiot m (plural idiots, feminine idiote)

1. idiot

Further reading

• “idiot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idioter, definite plural idiotene)

1. (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool

Derived terms

• idiotsikker
• kraftidiot
• kronidiot

References

• “idiot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idiotar, definite plural idiotane)

1. (derogatory) an idiot, imbecile, fool

Derived terms

• idiotsikker
• kraftidiot
• kronidiot

References

• “idiot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old French

Alternative forms

• idiote

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

Adjective

idiot m (oblique and nominative feminine singular idiote)

1. ignorant; narrow-minded

Usage notes

• The form idiote was sometimes used as both masculine and feminine, as a direct borrowing from Latin idiota.

Descendants

• → English: idiot
• French: idiot

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (idiot, supplement)

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French idiot, itself borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.diˈot/

Noun

idiot m (plural idioți, feminine equivalent idioată)

1. idiot, moron, imbecile

Synonyms

• prost, tâmpit, imbecil, cretin

Adjective

idiot m or n (feminine singular idioată, masculine plural idioți, feminine and neuter plural idioate)

1. stupid, idiotic, foolish, absurd

Declension

Declension of idiot

		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

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^(key): /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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈidiɔt/

Noun

idiot m (genitive singular idiota, nominative plural idioti, genitive plural idiotov, declension pattern of chlap)

1. (derogatory) idiot

Declension

Declension of idiot

	singular	plural
nominative	idiot	idioti
genitive	idiota	idiotov
dative	idiotovi	idiotom
accusative	idiota	idiotov
locative	idiotovi	idiotoch
instrumental	idiotom	idiotmi

Derived terms

• idiotický
• idioticky
• idiotstvo
• idiotizmus

See also

• blázon
• hlupák

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, 2024

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

idiot c

1. (derogatory) idiot

Declension

Declension of idiot
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	idiot	idioten	idioter	idioterna
Genitive	idiots	idiotens	idioters	idioternas