Imbecile Definition
ĭmbə-sĭl, -səl
imbeciles
noun
imbeciles
A disabled person mentally equal to a child between three and eight years old.
Webster's New World
A very foolish or stupid person.
Webster's New World
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.
American Heritage
adjective
Very foolish or stupid.
Webster's New World
(dated) Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.
Hospitals for the imbecile and insane.
Wiktionary
Antonyms:
Other Word Forms of Imbecile
Noun
Singular:
imbecile
Plural:
imbecilesOrigin of Imbecile
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From obsolete French imbécille weak, feeble from Old French from Latin imbēcillus in- not in–1 possibly bacillum staff diminutive of baculum rod bak- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Middle French imbécile, from Latin imbēcillus (“weak, feeble”), literally “without a staff”.
From Wiktionary
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