imbecile

See also: imbécile

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmbəˈsiːl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmbəsɪl/, /ˈɪmbəsəl/

• Audio (US):

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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.
   • 1956, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 7”, in Sexual Offences Act 1956‎^[1], page 2:

     It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.

2. (derogatory) A fool, an idiot.
   • 1954, Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot‎^[2], →ISBN, page 5:

     VLADIMIR: Because he wouldn't save them. / ESTRAGON: From hell? / VLADIMIR: Imbecile! From death.

   • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     “A rat picked up a drink can and threw it at me?” yelled Mr Big.
     “A big rat, guv’nor? One of them super-rats?” suggested Thumbs.
     “It landed on my head, you imbecile!”

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:idiot

Derived terms

• imbecilic (adjective)
• imbecility (noun)
• imbecilification

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

• 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)
• Vietnamese: người khờ dại

fool

• Catalan: imbècil (ca) m or f
• Danish: tåbe c, fjols n, idiot (da) c, kraftidiot c, dumrian c, fæ (da) 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)
• Indonesian: bodoh (id), bego (id), tolol (id)
• Japanese: ばか (ja) (baka)
• Khmer: អាភ្លើ (aa pləə)
• Latvian: imbecils, stulbs, muļķis (lv) m, muļķe f
• Luxembourgish: Dräibiz (lb) m
• 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

   • 1899 April, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MII, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part III (Conclusion), page 647:

     And then that imbecile crowd down on the deck started their little fun, and I could see nothing more for smoke.