idiocy

[ id-ee-uh-see ]

noun

, plural id·i·o·cies.

1. utterly senseless or foolish behavior; a stupid or foolish act, statement, etc.:

   All this talk of zombies coming to attack us is pure idiocy.

   Synonyms: foolishness, folly, inanity

2. Psychology. (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) an intellectual disability, previously classified in a now obsolete rubric of developmental disorders as having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.

idiocy

/ ˈɪdɪəsɪ /

noun

1. not in technical usage severe mental retardation
2. foolishness or senselessness; stupidity
3. a foolish act or remark

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiocy¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Medieval Latin idiotia “imbecility,” from Hellenistic Greek idiōteía “uncouthness, ignorance,” Greek “state of being a private person”; idiot, -cy

Example Sentences

In my column, I likened Thomas’ crash to the very relatable moments of idiocy that all of us suffer in our daily lives.

From Outside Online

Radius is the robot that understands his station and chafes at the idiocy of his makers, having acted out his frustrations by smashing statues.

From Popular-Science

The ambulance took more than half an hour to arrive, which was a criminal idiocy.

From Washington Post

They were then amplified by social media algorithms “that were smart enough to spot a viral trend but dumb enough not to notice the idiocy of its content,” according to Wired, a technology magazine.

From Time

The present will dish up plenty of its own idiocy to hold our attention.

From The Daily Beast

And a successful two-term Governor of a state where the balloting incompetence and idiocy is absolutely vital to the GOP.

From The Daily Beast

“I think it comes from idiocy and cowardice,” said Whedon of the female superhero problem.

From The Daily Beast

On The View, while she leads the show, she sat apart from the more hysterical caterwauling and general idiocy around her.

From The Daily Beast

The full idiocy of conspiricism at its dreariest has thus been summoned to relativize the crime and, in so doing, deny it.

From The Daily Beast

To this day Jean Kostka does not seem conscious of any element of idiocy in the variation of the old-fashioned name.

From Project Gutenberg

Inexhaustibly kind to undeserved misfortune, a little impatient of mere incompetence, implacable to continuous idiocy.

From Project Gutenberg

The sight he was looking on would have sent three men out of five into gibbering idiocy.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps not until the child is six months old can the observer distinguish between blindness and idiocy.

From Project Gutenberg

Physical inhibition in the growth of the brain involves, on the mental side, feeble-mindedness and idiocy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• insanity
• lunacy
• madness