name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
cretin
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: /ˈkɹiːtɪn/
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US: /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛtɪn
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rhymes with (US) -iːtɪn
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homophone: Cretan (one pronunciation)
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CMU ARPABET: K R IY1 T AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
An idiot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, derogatory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
a person of subnormal intelligence
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: idiot, imbecile, moron, changeling, half-wit, retard
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: simpleton, simple
Narrower terms: mongoloid
History
Etymology
From French crétin (“cretin, idiot”), likely from crestin, an Alpine dialectal form of chrétien, from Latin christiānus in the lost sense of “anyone in Christendom”, often with a sense of “poor fellow”. Doublet of Christian.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Catalan: cretí — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Catalan: cretina — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Czech: kretén — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Dutch: cretin — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Finnish: kretiini — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- French: crétin — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- German: Kretin — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Greek: κρετίνος (kretínos) — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Hungarian: kretén — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Ido: kretino — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Irish: creitín — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Lithuanian: kretinas — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Polish: kretyn — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Portuguese: cretino — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Romanian: cretin — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Romanian: cretină — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Russian: крети́н (kretín) — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Serbo-Croatian: крѐте̄н — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Serbo-Croatian: krètēn — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Turkish: kreten — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Ukrainian: крети́н (kretýn) — person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
- Belarusian: крэці́н (krecín) — pejorative: an idiot
- Belarusian: крэты́н (kretýn) — pejorative: an idiot
- Bulgarian: крете́н (kretén) — pejorative: an idiot
- Catalan: cretí — pejorative: an idiot
- French: crétin — pejorative: an idiot
- Georgian: კრეტინი (ḳreṭini) — pejorative: an idiot
- German: Kretin — pejorative: an idiot
- Greek: κρετίνος (kretínos) — pejorative: an idiot
- Greek: ηλίθιος (ilíthios) — pejorative: an idiot
- Hungarian: kretén — pejorative: an idiot
- Ido: kretinacho — pejorative: an idiot
- Italian: cretino — pejorative: an idiot
- Lithuanian: kretinas — pejorative: an idiot
- Macedonian: крете́н (kretén) — pejorative: an idiot
- Polish: kretyn — pejorative: an idiot
- Polish: kretynka — pejorative: an idiot
- Portuguese: cretino — pejorative: an idiot
- Romanian: cretin — pejorative: an idiot
- Romanian: cretină — pejorative: an idiot
- Russian: крети́н (kretín) — pejorative: an idiot
- Russian: крети́нка (kretínka) — pejorative: an idiot
- Serbo-Croatian: крѐте̄н — pejorative: an idiot
- Serbo-Croatian: krètēn — pejorative: an idiot
- Slovak: kritin — pejorative: an idiot
- Spanish: cretino — pejorative: an idiot
- Spanish: cretina — pejorative: an idiot
- Ukrainian: крети́н (kretýn) — pejorative: an idiot
- Ukrainian: крети́нка (kretýnka) — pejorative: an idiot