idiocy
English
Alternative forms
- idiotcy (archaic)
Etymology
From French idiotie, from Old French idiot. Displaced earlier idiotacy, idiotry. Equivalent to idiot + -cy. By surface analysis, idio- + -cy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɪdiəsi/
- (US) IPA(key): [ˈɪɾiəsi]
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
idiocy (countable and uncountable, plural idiocies)
- (dated, psychology, now derogatory) The state or condition of being an idiot; the quality of having an intelligence level far below average.
- Synonyms: idioticness, imbecility, moronicity (all archaic in this sense); mental retardation (now deprecated in medical usage); intellectual disability (current medical terminology)
- (uncountable) Lack of intelligence or sense; extremely foolish behaviour.
- Synonyms: idioticness, imbecility, moronicity; see also Thesaurus:intelligence § Antonyms
- The administrators, growing tired of such idiocy, put a new policy in place.
- (countable) An idiotic act or utterance.
- The list of his idiocies is seemingly interminable.
Synonyms
- idiocity (nonstandard)
- idiotacy (nonstandard)
- idiotcy (dated)
- idiotery (nonstandard, rare)
- idioticalness (rare)
- idioticity (nonstandard)
- idioticness (rare)
- idioticy (nonstandard)
- idiotness (rare)
- idiotry (obsolete)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
state of being an idiot
|
extremely foolish behaviour
References
- “idiocy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.