Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

imbecile

/ˈɪmbəsɪl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.87 in modern English

Syllables: im-be-cile
IPA: /ˈɪmbəsɪl/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five- to seven-year-old child.

Obsolete

noun

A fool, an idiot.

Derogatory

adj

Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.

Dated

Example Sentences

"It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile."
"VLADIMIR: Because he wouldn't save them. / ESTRAGON: From hell? / VLADIMIR: Imbecile! From death."
"“A rat picked up a drink can and threw it at me?” yelled Mr Big. “A big rat, guv’nor? One of them super-rats?” suggested Thumbs. “It landed on my head, you imbecile!”"
"hospitals for the imbecile and insane"
"And then that imbecile crowd down on the deck started their little fun, and I could see nothing more for smoke."

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French imbécile, from Latin imbēcillus (“weak, feeble”), literally “without a staff”.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: imbēcillus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɪmbəsɪl/
British English: /ɪmbəˈsiːl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

imbeciles (plural) more imbecile (comparative) most imbecile (superlative)

Derived Forms

imbecilely imbecilic imbecilification imbecilism imbecility

Synonyms

imbecilic idiotic idiot cretin moron changeling half-wit retard

Questions

How do you pronounce imbecile?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɪmbəsɪl/.
What does imbecile mean?: A person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five- to seven-year-old child.
Where does imbecile come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce imbecile

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