Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cretin

/ˈkɹiːtɪn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.45 in modern English

Syllables: cretin
IPA: /ˈkɹiːtɪn/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism.

Archaic

noun

Derogatory

name

Example Sentences

"When I challenged the symbolism, tried to make the professor consider the book as a piece of realism, he regarded me as if I were an absolute cretin. He got very supercilious and condescending […]"

Etymology

From French crétin (“cretin, idiot”), likely from crestin, an Alpine dialectal form of chrétien, from Latin christiānus in the lost sense of “anyone in Christendom”, often with a sense of “poor fellow”. Doublet of Christian.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: *gʰrey-, crétin, christiānus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkɹiːtɪn/
British English: /ˈkɹɛtɪn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

cretins (plural)

Derived Forms

cretinic cretinism cretinize cretinoid cretinous

Synonyms

idiot imbecile moron changeling half-wit retard

Homonyms

Cretan (one pronunciation)

Rhymes With

beaten eaten eaton unbeaten keaton eton wheaton heaton seton sweeten seaton teton

Questions

How do you pronounce cretin?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkɹiːtɪn/.
What does cretin mean?: A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism.
Where does cretin come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce cretin

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cretin”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkɹiːtɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cretin”.
Repeat and practice — Say “cretin” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.