id|i|ot

id|i|ot «IHD ee uht», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. a person born with such a weak mind that he can never learn to read or count; person who does not develop beyond the mental age of three.

2. a very stupid or foolish person: »

What an idiot I was to forget my pocketbook! You idiot; do you know what peril you stand in? (Dickens).

SYNONYM(S): See syn. under fool. (Cf. ↑fool)

3. Obsolete. a professional jester: »

The head of an idiot dressed in a cap and bells (Joseph Addison).

–adj.

very stupid; idiotic: »

On jukebox and radio, all we seemed to hear was the idiot blare of “Lay That Pistol Down” (David Boroff). ... these idiot breakdowns in our collective lives (Columbia Journalism Review).

╂[< Latin idiōta < Greek idiēs ignoramus, layman; (originally) private person, individual (as opposed to the state) < ídios one's own]