moron

¹

[ mawr-on ]

noun

1. Informal. a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment:

   I wonder why they elected that narrow-minded moron to Congress.

2. Psychology. (no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) a person of borderline intelligence in a former and discarded classification of intellectual disability, having an intelligence quotient of 50 to 69.

Morón

²

[ maw-rohn; Spanish maw-rawn ]

noun

1. a city in E Argentina, SW of Buenos Aires.

moron

/ mɒˈrɒnɪk; ˈmɔːrɒn /

noun

1. a foolish or stupid person
2. a person having an intelligence quotient of between 50 and 70, able to work under supervision

Derived Forms

• ˈmoronism, noun
• moronic, adjective
• moˈronically, adverb

Other Word Forms

• mo·ron·ic [m, uh, -, ron, -ik], adjective
• mo·ron·ism mo·ron·i·ty [m, uh, -, ron, -i-tee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of moron¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1905–10; from Greek mōrón, neuter of mōrós “foolish, dull”

Word History and Origins

Origin of moron¹

C20: from Greek mōros foolish

Example Sentences

Musk, whose band of roving nerd-assassins is conducting something like a large-scale Stalinist show trial of the entire federal bureaucracy, called Navarro a “moron” who was “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

From Salon

Musk responded with tweets in which he called Navarro “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

From Los Angeles Times

A sweet moron, but a moron nonetheless, which is evident as soon as Pattinson starts squeaking banalities in a nasal gasp that sounds as though he’s never gotten enough oxygen to his brain.

From Los Angeles Times

A top Trump campaign advisor later branded Lord Mandelson "an absolute moron".

From BBC

Musk may be the richest man in the world, but he fools his fanboys into thinking he's one of them because he, too, can act like a total moron online.

From Salon

Related Words

• boob
• idiot

About This Word

More context on moron

Calling someone a moron is all in good fun, right? Not so much. While moron can sound like a simple schoolyard taunt, the term was originally used by psychologists to classify someone as having mild intellectual disabilities. What’s more, prominent psychologists, notably Henry H. Goddard, who used the label moron promoted eugenics.

Moron is no longer in use as a medical term, and it’s offensive and ableist to equate someone you think is acting foolish to a person with a disability.

If knowing the history of moron has got you reflecting on your word choices, this slideshow, “These Common Words Have Offensive Histories,” discusses many other words whose place in your vocab you may want to reconsider. 

Keep in mind …

Like moron, the words idiot, imbecile, and feeble-minded were also once used in psychology to label people with intellectual disabilities or mental deficiencies.

Now, we’re not condoning any name-calling, but we’re also not naive—we know it happens! But, we can at least alert to the fact there are plenty of alternatives to moron that don’t come with so much painful baggage:

• blockhead
• boob
• buffoon
• ignoramus
• clown
• jester
• nitwit
• stooge

For more synonyms, find fool on Thesaurus.com.