Cretin vs Imbecile - What's the difference?
cretin | imbecile |
(pathology) A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism.
(pejorative) An idiot.
* 1969 , Irving Wallace, The Seven Minutes
(obsolete) A person with limited (l) (l) who can perform (l) and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five to seven-year-old child.
(pejorative) A .
(dated) Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.
In pejorative terms the difference between cretin and imbecile
is that cretin is an idiot while imbecile is a fool, an idiot.As nouns the difference between cretin and imbecile
is that cretin is a person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism while imbecile is a person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five to seven-year-old child.As an adjective imbecile is
destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.cretin
English
Noun
(en noun)- When I challenged the symbolism, tried to make the professor consider the book as a piece of realism, he regarded me as if I were an absolute cretin . He got very supercilious and condescending
Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* cretinism * cretinize * cretinoid * cretinousExternal links
* (Cretinism)imbecile
English
Noun
(en noun)Usage notes
* In modern times, “imbecile” is often used in (l) (l).Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* imbecilic (adjective) * imbecility (noun)Adjective
(en adjective)- hospitals for the imbecile and insane