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 Words From

• 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

In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Let’s find out,” according to court records.

From Los Angeles Times

According to the indictment, the two medical doctors exchanged texts conspiring over how much they could charge Perry for vials of the drug, with one message reading: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

From BBC

Trump senses that the leaders of America’s democratic allies think he’s a moron.

From Salon

One of the doctors, Salvador Plasencia, is alleged to have written in a text message: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

From BBC

In the month before Mathew Perry’s death, a doctor the actor contacted to acquire ketamine called him a “moron” in a text message, according to federal prosecutors.

From Los Angeles Times

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.