imbecile

See also: imbécile

English

Etymology

From Middle French imbécile, from Latin imbēcillus (“weak, feeble”), literally “without a staff”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪmbəsɪl/, /ˈɪmbəsəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

imbecile (plural imbeciles)

1. (obsolete) A person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five to seven-year-old child.
2. (derogatory) A fool, an idiot.

Usage notes

• In modern times, “imbecile” is often used in jocular insults.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:idiot

Derived terms

• imbecilic (adjective)
• imbecility (noun)

Translations

person with limited mental capacity

• Catalan: imbècil (ca) m or f
• Dutch: imbeciel (nl) m
• Finnish: imbesilli (fi)
• French: imbécile (fr) m or f
• German: Zurückgebliebener m, Behinderter (de) m
• Greek: ηλίθιος (el) m (ilíthios)

  Ancient Greek: βλάξ m (bláx)

• Italian: tarato (it)
• Khmer: មនុស្សល្ងីល្ងើ (mɔnuh lŋii)
• Latvian: imbecils
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: imbesil m

• Polish: imbecyl (pl) m
• Portuguese: imbecil (pt) m or f
• Romanian: imbecil (ro)
• Russian: имбеци́л (ru) m (imbecíl), слабоу́мный (ru) m (slaboúmnyj)
• Spanish: imbécil (es)
• Tagalog: tulala
• Turkish: embesil (tr), budala (tr)

fool

• Catalan: imbècil (ca) m or f
• Danish: tåbe c, fjols n, idiot c, kraftidiot c, dumrian c, fæ c, imbecil
• Dutch: imbeciel (nl) m
• Faroese: býttlingur m
• Finnish: imbesilli (fi)
• French: imbécile (fr) m or f
• German: Idiot (de) m, Dummkopf (de)
• Greek: ηλίθιος (el) m (ilíthios), βλάκας (el) m (vlákas), ανόητος (el) m (anóitos)
• Japanese: ばか (ja) (baka)
• Khmer: អាភ្លើ (aa pləə)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: imbecils, stulbs, muļķis (lv) m, muļķe f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: imbesil m

• Polish: imbecyl (pl) m
• Portuguese: imbecil (pt) m or f
• Russian: дура́к (ru) m (durák), ду́ра (ru) f (dúra)
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: imbécil (es)
• Tagalog: tulala
• Turkish: embesil (tr), budala (tr), ahmak (tr), aptal (tr)

Adjective

imbecile (comparative more imbecile, superlative most imbecile)

1. (dated) Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.

   hospitals for the imbecile and insane