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noun
1.
Informal. a dunce; blockhead; dolt.
2.
Psychology. (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) a person of the second order in a former and discarded classification of mental retardation, above the level of idiocy, having a mental age of seven or eight years and an intelligence quotient of 25 to 50.
adjective
3.
Informal. stupid; silly; absurd.
4.
Usually Offensive. showing mental feebleness or incapacity.
5.
Archaic. weak or feeble.
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Imbeciles
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Origin:
1540–50; earlier imbecill < Latin imbēcillus weak; -ile replacing -ill by confusion with suffix -ile
1540–50; earlier imbecill < Latin imbēcillus weak; -ile replacing -ill by confusion with suffix -ile
Related forms
im·be·cil·ic, adjective
im·be·cile·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To imbeciles
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
imbecile
1540s, imbecille (adj.) "weak, feeble" (especially in reference to body), from M.Fr. imbecile (15c.), from L. imbecillus "weak, feeble" (see imbecility). Sense shifted to mental weakness from mid-18c. As a noun, it is attested from 1802. Traditionally one with a mental
EXPANDage of roughly 6 to 9 (ahead of an idiot but beneath a moron).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
imbecile im·be·cile (ĭm'bə-sĭl, -səl)
n.
A person of moderate to severe mental retardation having a mental age of from three to seven years and generally being capable of some degree of communication and performance of simple tasks under supervision. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
im'be·cil'i·ty (-sĭl'ĭ·tē) n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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