[ noun ] a person of subnormal intelligence <noun.person>
Idiot \Id"i*ot\ ([i^]d"[i^]*[o^]t), n. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated, ignorant, ill-informed person, Gr. 'idiw`ths, also and orig., a private person, not holding public office, fr. 'i`dios proper, peculiar. See {Idiom}.] 1. A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office. [Obs.]
St. Austin affirmed that the plain places of Scripture are sufficient to all laics, and all idiots or private persons. --Jer. Taylor.
2. An unlearned, ignorant, or simple person, as distinguished from the educated; an ignoramus. [Obs.]
Christ was received of idiots, of the vulgar people, and of the simpler sort, while he was rejected, despised, and persecuted even to death by the high priests, lawyers, scribes, doctors, and rabbis. --C. Blount.
3. A human being destitute of the ordinary intellectual powers, whether congenital, developmental, or accidental; commonly, a person without understanding from birth; a natural fool. In a former classification of mentally retarded people, idiot designated a person whose adult level of intelligence was equivalent to that of a three-year old or younger; this corresponded with an I.Q. level of approximately 25 or less. [1913 Webster +PJC]
Life . . . is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. --Shak.
4. A fool; a simpleton; -- a term of reproach.
Weenest thou make an idiot of our dame? --Chaucer.
Mr. Disney says he was aware of the "idiot nephew" comments made about him, although they weren't "made to my face."
Howard Phillips insulted the president back by calling him "a useful idiot for Soviet propaganda" and "a weak man with a strong wife and a strong staff."
It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.
Ironically, the idiot who changed his wheel in the outside lane was let off with a caution.
Officers warned Stanek it might be like this. "All it takes is one idiot.
Mr. Reagan has become "a useful idiot for Soviet propaganda," Howard Phillips, president of the Conversative Caucus, charged last week.
"Anyone who sells to the arbs at $75 a share is an idiot," asserts Scott Black, who heads Delphi Management, a Boston money manager, adding that "$100 would be a fair price."
Ed McCarthy, who works in the district attorney's office, couldn't find a parking space during the movie hubbub. "I'm parked at a bus stop where some idiot will give me a ticket," he said.
The man is a stone-cold idiot." For years, Patton Village has been a notorious speed trap where police strictly enforced a 55 mph limit.
One moment they are lingering by a waterfall-side cafe where a village idiot, a pretty girl and Buddha-like boss sketch archetypal figures we will meet and re-meet later.
But, to borrow a line from Jerome K. Jerome, I am not going to be idiot enough to advertise it.
Howard Phillips, president of the Conservative Caucus, has called him "a useful idiot for Soviet propaganda" because of his support for arms control.