Standard Lemma guide

idiocy

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • /ˈɪdiəsi/
  • US: [ˈɪɾiəsi]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 D IY0 AH0 S IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or condition of being an idiot; the quality of having an intelligence level far below average.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, dated, derogatory, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: idioticness, imbecility, moronicity, mental retardation, intellectual disability

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Lack of intelligence or sense; extremely foolish behaviour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The administrators, growing tired of such idiocy, put a new policy in place.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: idioticness, imbecility, moronicity

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An idiotic act or utterance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • The list of his idiocies is seemingly interminable.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

extreme mental retardation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: amentia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: retardation, mental retardation, backwardness, slowness, subnormality

History

Etymology

From French idiotie, from Old French idiot. Displaced earlier idiotacy, idiotry. Equivalent to idiot + -cy. By surface analysis, idio- + -cy.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: идиотия (idiotija) — state of being an idiot
  • Catalan: idiòcia — state of being an idiot
  • Catalan: estupidesa — state of being an idiot
  • Chichewa: utsiru — state of being an idiot
  • Chinese Mandarin: 白痴 (báichī) — state of being an idiot
  • Czech: idiocie — state of being an idiot
  • Danish: idioti — state of being an idiot
  • Esperanto: idioteco — state of being an idiot
  • Finnish: tylsämielisyys — state of being an idiot
  • Finnish: idiotia — state of being an idiot
  • Finnish: idioottimaisuus — state of being an idiot
  • French: idiotie — state of being an idiot
  • German: Idiotie — state of being an idiot
  • Greek: ηλιθιότητα (ilithiótita) — state of being an idiot
  • Greek: ιδιωτεία (idioteía) — state of being an idiot
  • Italian: stupidità — state of being an idiot
  • Manx: meecheealaght — state of being an idiot
  • Manx: meecheeallid — state of being an idiot
  • Manx: ommidys — state of being an idiot
  • Occitan: idiocia — state of being an idiot
  • Polish: idiotyzm — state of being an idiot
  • Portuguese: idiotice — state of being an idiot
  • Portuguese: estupidez — state of being an idiot
  • Russian: идиоти́зм (idiotízm) — state of being an idiot
  • Russian: идио́тство (idiótstvo) — state of being an idiot
  • Spanish: idiotez — state of being an idiot
  • Spanish: estupidez — state of being an idiot
  • Tagalog: kaungasan — state of being an idiot
  • Ukrainian: ідіоти́зм (idiotýzm) — state of being an idiot
  • Volapük: diot — state of being an idiot
  • Bulgarian: идиотщина (idiotština) — extremely foolish behaviour
  • Middle English: sotie — extremely foolish behaviour
  • Middle English: sotschipe — extremely foolish behaviour
  • Polish: idiotyzm — extremely foolish behaviour
  • Ukrainian: ідіоти́зм (idiotýzm) — extremely foolish behaviour