imbecility
pronunciation
How to pronounce imbecility in British English:
UK [ˌɪmbə'sɪlətɪ]
How to pronounce imbecility in American English:
US [ˌɪmbə'sɪlətɪ]
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- Noun:
- retardation more severe than a moron but not as severe as an idiot
- a stupid mistake
Word Origin
- imbecility (n.)
- early 15c., "physical weakness, feebleness (of a body part), impotence," from Middle French imbécillité and directly from Latin imbecillitatem (nominative imbecillitas) "weakness, feebleness," from imbecillus "weak, feeble," traditionally said to mean "unsupported" (quasi sine baculo), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + baculum "a stick" (see bacillus). "Weakness in mind" (as opposed to body) was a secondary sense in Latin but was not attested in English until 1620s.
Example
- 1. A monument to imbecility and perversity in scholarship .
- 2. So the deification of youth evolved , and turned into the deification of imbecility .
- 3. The clerical elite was scandalised : it towered over the churches , did not speak to god , and reflected " imbecility , bad taste and foolish arrogance " .
- 4. And young men like billiards and cards , which take their minds off the imbecility of everyday work .
- 5. If hundreds of civilians are killed , and hundreds of thousands put to flight , so be it : in war , under israel 's philosophy , moderation is imbecility .