idiot

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɪd͡ʒət/ UK /ˈɪdiət/ See IPA manual

Freq #867

Meanings

1

noun
A stupid or foolish person.

Only an idiot would leave the front door wide open all night.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a stupid or foolish person. fool bonehead moron

More addle-brainaddlehead airhead assassclownasshatassheadasstardasswipebaboonbeanbrainbeetlebrain

Opposites

genius

Word family

Forms idiots

Derived forms cidiotcovidiotdipshidiotfloridiotidiocracyidiot-proofidiot-savantidiotacyidiotcyidiotedidioteryidiotese

Related forms foolish idiocy idiom idiosyncratic idioticidioticallyinsane

Etymology

From Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.

idiote Middle English idiota Latin ἰδιώτης Ancient Greek

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# idiot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɪdiət/
**Frequency rank:** 867

## Meanings
1. A stupid or foolish person.

## Examples
- Only an idiot would leave the front door wide open all night.

## Synonyms
- addle-brain
- addlehead
- airhead
- ass
- assclown
- asshat
- asshead
- asstard
- asswipe
- baboon
- beanbrain
- beetlebrain

## Antonyms
- genius

## Derived Forms
- cidiot
- covidiot
- dipshidiot
- floridiot
- idiocracy
- idiot-proof
- idiot-savant
- idiotacy
- idiotcy
- idioted
- idiotery
- idiotese

## Related Forms
- foolish
- idiocy
- idiom
- idiosyncratic
- idiotic
- idiotically
- insane

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: idiote
- Root: idiota
- Root: ἰδιώτης

## Etymology
From Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.

## AI Etymology
Idiot comes from Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main sense is “A stupid or foolish person”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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idiot

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