imbecile

See also: imbécile

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmbəsɪl/, /ˈɪmbəsəl/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

imbecile (plural imbeciles)

(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.
(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
Norwegian:
Bokmål: imbesil 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)

Latvian: imbecils, stulbs, muļķis (lv) m, muļķe f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: imbesil 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)

(dated) Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.
hospitals for the imbecile and insane

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