imbécil
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin imbēcillus, from in- (“no”) + baculum (“walking stick, staff”), in the sense of “weak, vulnerable”.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /imˈbeθil/ [ĩmˈbe.θil] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
- IPA(key): /imˈbesil/ [ĩmˈbe.sil] (Latin America, Philippines)
- Rhymes: -eθil (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
- Rhymes: -esil (Latin America, Philippines)
- Syllabification: im‧bé‧cil
Adjective
[edit]imbécil m or f (masculine and feminine plural imbéciles)
Noun
[edit]imbécil m or f by sense (plural imbéciles)
- (offensive) imbecile, moron, dimwit, nitwit, sucker, dolt, shithead, nincompoop
- (offensive) asshole, prick, jerk, dickhead, twit, twerp, schmuck, dumbass
Usage notes
[edit]- Although in some contexts zonzo, bobo, tonto, menso, culero, tarado, idiota, imbécil, estúpido and pendejo may be synonyms, in most contexts have a different degree, zonzo having the mildest connotation, increasing its intensity in that rough order, to estúpido and pendejo, which have the most offensive sense.
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “imbécil”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
Categories:
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/eθil
- Rhymes:Spanish/eθil/3 syllables
- Rhymes:Spanish/esil
- Rhymes:Spanish/esil/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish offensive terms
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine and feminine nouns by sense
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish nouns with multiple genders
- Spanish terms of address
- Spanish swear words
- Spanish vulgarities
- Spanish derogatory terms