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Idiot vs Imbecility - What's the difference?

idiot | imbecility |

As nouns the difference between idiot and imbecility

is that idiot is (slang|derogatory) a proponent of intelligent design while imbecility is the quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, especially of mind.

idiot

English

Alternative forms

* eejit * idjit, idget (eye dialect)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (pejorative) A person of low general intelligence.
    • usage note This may be used pejoratively, as an insult. It is a weak insult, however, and between close friends, family members, or lovers, is often completely nonaggressive.
  • (obsolete, medicine, psychology) A person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * genius

    Related terms

    * idiocy * idiom * idiosyncratic * idiotic * idiotically * idiot savant * useful idiot

    imbecility

    English

    Noun

  • The quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, especially of mind.
  • Something imbecilic; a stupid action, behaviour, etc.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year= 1895 , year_published= , author= , by= (Max Simon Nordau) , title= Degeneration , url= http://books.google.com/books?id=LOWr5TsEaPUC&pg=PA270 , original= , chapter= , section= , isbn= , edition= , publisher= D. Appleton and Company , location= New York , editor= , volume= , page= 270 , passage= The Parnassian theory of art is mere imbecility . }}