imbecile C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈɪmbəsəl/ UK /ˈɪmbɪsiːl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a stupid person; (dated) someone of severely limited intelligence Only an imbecile would leave the front door wide open all night. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a stupid person; (dated)... foolidiotmorondoltsimpletonblockheaddunce ↔ Opposites geniussageintellectual Word family Derived forms imbecilicimbecility Etymology AI details From Latin imbecillus ('weak, feeble'), originally perhaps 'without a supporting staff', from in- ('without') + baculum ('staff'). It came to mean 'feeble-minded'. imbecillus Latin baculum Latin View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Register & Style External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # imbecile **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈɪmbəsəl/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɪmbɪsiːl/ ## Meanings 1. a stupid person; (dated) someone of severely limited intelligence ## Examples - Only an imbecile would leave the front door wide open all night. ## Synonyms - fool - idiot - moron - dolt - simpleton - blockhead - dunce ## Antonyms - genius - sage - intellectual ## Derived Forms - imbecilic - imbecility ## Roots and Affixes - Root: imbecillus - Root: baculum ## Etymology From Latin imbecillus ('weak, feeble'), originally perhaps 'without a supporting staff', from in- ('without') + baculum ('staff'). It came to mean 'feeble-minded'. ## AI Etymology Imbecile comes from Latin imbecillus ('weak, feeble'), originally perhaps 'without a supporting staff', from in- ('without') + baculum ('staff'). It came to mean 'feeble-minded'. The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As a noun and adjective, it denotes "a stupid person; (dated) someone of severely limited intelligence", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Latin imbecillus and Latin baculum. Derivative forms include imbecilic, imbecility. ## Topics - People & Society - Register & Style markdown