Imbecile — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

a person of subnormal intelligence

having a mental age of three to seven years

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/ˈɪmbəsəl/

🇬🇧British English

/ˈɪmbɪsˌiːl/

🇮🇳Indian English

/ˈɪmbɪsˌiːl/

3 syllables Say it as /ˈɪmbəsəl/.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

imbecilic cretin changeling half-wit retard idiotic moron idiot

Parts of Speech

noun	a person of subnormal intelligence
adjective	having a mental age of three to seven years

Word Forms

idiotic	adjective	having a mental age of three to seven years
imbecilic	adjective	having a mental age of three to seven years
cretinous	adjective	afflicted with cretinism
moronic	adjective	having a mental age of between eight and twelve years
retard	verb	slow the growth or development of
imbecility	noun	retardation more severe than a moron but not as severe as an idiot
imbecile	noun	a person of subnormal intelligence
idiot	noun	a person of subnormal intelligence

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

schwachsinnig

eine Person mit unterdurchschnittlicher Intelligenz

🇫🇷French

imbécile

une personne d'une intelligence inférieure à la normale

🇪🇸Spanish

imbécil

una persona de inteligencia subnormal

🇮🇹Italian

imbecille

una persona di intelligenza subnormale

🇳🇱Dutch

imbeciel

een persoon met een subnormale intelligentie

🇵🇹Portuguese

imbecil

uma pessoa de inteligência subnormal

🇷🇺Russian

идиот

человек со сверхнормальным интеллектом

India

🇮🇳Hindi

मूर्ख

असामान्य बुद्धि का व्यक्ति

🇧🇩Bengali

নির্বোধ

অস্বাভাবিক বুদ্ধিমত্তার একজন ব্যক্তি

🇮🇳Tamil

முட்டாள்தனமான

சாதாரண நுண்ணறிவு கொண்ட ஒரு நபர்

🇮🇳Telugu

నిష్కళంకమైన

సాధారణ తెలివితేటలు లేని వ్యక్తి

🇮🇳Marathi

मूर्ख

असामान्य बुद्धिमत्तेची व्यक्ती

🇮🇳Gujarati

અવિચારી

અસાધારણ બુદ્ધિની વ્યક્તિ

🇮🇳Kannada

ನಿರ್ಲಜ್ಜ

ಅಸಹಜ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ

🇮🇳Malayalam

നിഷ്കളങ്കൻ

സാധാരണ ബുദ്ധിശക്തിയുള്ള ഒരു വ്യക്തി

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਬੇਵਕੂਫ

ਅਸਧਾਰਨ ਬੁੱਧੀ ਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਵਿਅਕਤੀ

🇵🇰Urdu

بے وقوف

غیر معمولی ذہانت والا شخص

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

愚蠢的

智力低下的人

🇯🇵Japanese

愚かな

標準以下の知性を持つ人

🇰🇷Korean

바보

지능이 보통 이하인 사람

🇻🇳Vietnamese

ngu

một người có trí thông minh dưới mức bình thường

🇹🇭Thai

โง่เขลา

คนที่มีสติปัญญาต่ำกว่าปกติ

🇮🇩Indonesian

dungu

seseorang dengan kecerdasan di bawah normal

🇲🇾Malay

bodoh

seorang yang mempunyai kecerdasan subnormal

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

أبله

شخص ذو ذكاء أقل من الطبيعي

🇮🇷Persian

ابله

فردی با هوش غیرعادی

🇹🇷Turkish

embesil

normalin altında zekaya sahip bir kişi

🇮🇱Hebrew

מְטוּמטָם

אדם בעל אינטליגנציה תת-נורמלית

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'imbecile'?

The primary meaning of 'imbecile' is 'a person of subnormal intelligence'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'imbecile' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'imbecile' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'imbecile' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'imbecile' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'imbecile' in your daily reading?

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In your opinion, does the word 'imbecile' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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