idiotid‧i‧ot /ˈɪdiət/ ●●○ S3 noun [countable] 
It was all your fault, you idiot.2old use someone who is mentally ill or has a very low level of intelligence—idiotic /ˌɪdiˈɒtɪk◂ $ -ˈɑːt-/ adjective: Stop asking such idiotic questions.—idiotically /-kli/ adverb
WORD ORIGINidiot
Origin:
1300-1400 Latin idiota ‘person who knows nothing’, from Greek idiotes ‘private person, person who knows nothing’, from idios ‘own, personal, private’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Stop treating me like an idiot -- I can count you know!
- Whenever I phone the bank I get through to some idiot who sounds about twelve years old.
- You idiot! What did you do that for?
- But then, like an idiot, I go down.
- I fear he is truly an idiot.
- I must have managed an expression half way between a brave smile and the grin of an idiot.
- I would be an idiot to recommend it to the leader.
- If you couldn't handle your booze then you were a bloody idiot to drink and drive, that was not negotiable.
- Only a very disinterested idiot could miss, and be unimpressed by, either.
- You think he's an idiot, because he gets things wrong-the background, the politics, Walter, us.
Longman Language Activatorany one of the people in a group or in the world
use this to talk about each person in a group of people when it is not important to say exactly which one: any/man/child/teacher etc: · Ask any teacher and they'll tell you I'm right.· Any student who wishes to go on the trip should sign this list.any of the men/their children/my teachers etc: · Have any of the guests arrived?· Jan decided not to invite any of her relatives to her graduation.any of you/them/us: · Have any of you seen my glasses?
· Don't worry about it. It can happen to anybody.· Did anyone call while I was out?· If anybody needs more information, come and see me after class.· Sarah liked him more than anyone else she knew.· This would be an ideal job for anyone who speaks French and Italian.
informal anyone in the world, used especially when you mean that you should be more careful about who you choose or allow to do something: · Any Tom, Dick, or Harry could have written something just as good.· If you don't have someone at the door, any Tom, Dick or Harry could turn up at the party and walk straight in.
any person -- use this when the identity of the person is not important or is not known: · Whoever you ask, you will get the same answer.· Sam wanted to feel that others, no matter who they were, agreed with him.· If someone comes to your door you should always ask for some form of identification, no matter who they say they are.
if you say that any fool or any idiot can do something, you mean that anyone can do it because it is extremely easy, and if someone cannot do it they must be very stupid: · Any fool could see that the child was unhappy.
someone who is not intelligent · Whenever I phone the bank I get through to some idiot who sounds about twelve years old.· Stop treating me like an idiot -- I can count you know!
informal a young woman who is attractive but not very intelligent, especially one who spends time with rich and famous people: · Backstage, Paul was surrounded by bimbos in short skirts just waiting for him to notice them.· She plays an apparent bimbo who manages to outwit her boss.
informal a very stupid person: · He treats his women staff as if they're all airheads.· Then some overpaid TV airhead starts telling us how wonderful her producer is.
an offensive word meaning a very stupid person: · What do you think I am, a complete moron?· Most media companies assume members of the general public are morons.
a stupid person someone who does something very stupid or embarrassing: · You lost the tickets? How could you be such an idiot?· Anyone who tells you any different is either a fool or a liar.· Some idiot in a fast car is trying to overtake.· If you believe that, you're a bigger fool than I thought.· She was an idiot to drink so much on an empty stomach.make a fool of yourself (=do something that makes you seem very stupid): · It's increasingly common for the losers to go out kicking and screaming, and generally making fools of themselves.
British informal someone who behaves in a stupid and annoying way: · Look at those wallies jumping around and pulling faces behind the TV reporter.· You look like a right wally in that hat.
especially American someone who is a little stupid and annoying, and who does not care if they upset or hurt other people: · Some jerk just drove right into the back of my car.· I liked the job, but the manager was a jerk.· Ow! You jerk, that hurt!total/real jerk: · She seems to always end up in a relationship with some total jerk.
American informal someone who is stupid and embarrassing: · He's such a goof. I don't know what she sees in him.· He always acts like a real goof after a couple of glasses of wine.· Oh Mike's okay, he's just a bit of a goof ball.
American informal someone who is stupid and does not think about what they say or do: · I'm sorry I was such a dope last night.· Oh you dope, you bought the wrong one.
especially American, informal someone who you think is stupid and strange because they behave strangely or wear strange clothes: · I look like a real dork in this uniform.· Millions of listeners heard him call his production assistant a 'dork' live on air.
very stupid not at all sensible or reasonable, especially in an annoying or shocking way : · I said I enjoyed doing exams, and she looked at me as if I was crazy!· Ian's got some crazy plan to drive all the way across Africa.· The farmers can make more money by not planting crops - it's crazy, isn't it?· You're crazy to think of hitch-hiking on your own.
something that is ridiculous or absurd is so stupid that you can hardly believe that it has been done, said etc: · I've never heard anything so ridiculous! Of course I haven't been trying to avoid you!· an absurd suggestion· This is ridiculous. You've only known him three days, and you're going on holiday with him!· It's absurd to think Porter flew into a murderous rage just because he had an argument with his girlfriend.patently ridiculous/absurd (=used to emphasize that something is very ridiculous indeed): · This patently absurd argument is often used by anti-gay groups.
completely unreasonable or unsuitable: · The telephone lines are only open during office hours, which is ludicrous in this day and age.· She wears short skirts and dyes her hair pink, which looks ludicrous on a woman her age.
so stupid and unbelievable that it makes you want to laugh: · The government's attempt to privatize the prison service has been simply laughable.· It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.
very stupid and likely to involve unnecessary risks and dangers: · Wyatt was nearly killed as a result of that idiotic stunt.· If that wasn't idiotic enough, the company went on to sack fifty percent of its skilled workers, replacing them with untrained apprentices.
: hare-brained scheme/plan etc a plan that is very stupid and cannot possibly be successful: · Alice had to figure out how to pay the rent after Ralph spent the money on another of his hare-brained schemes.
: inane remark/comment/conversation etc stupid and completely meaningless: · Penny began an inane conversation about the book she was reading to fill the silence.· Bad acting, weak script and inane dialogue -- this movie is truly awful.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Meg realized she’d been a complete fool. Susan felt she had to play the good wife.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
Meg realized she’d been a complete fool. Susan felt she had to play the good wife.· He can either be a hero or the biggest idiot in the world.· Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot.· Sly was not this big an idiot.· Ben Wright is also a big fat idiot.· Anna You're a big idiot.· A big idiot is what they'd say.
· If you couldn't handle your booze then you were a bloody idiot to drink and drive, that was not negotiable.· I am the sinner or the bloody idiot.· It was all your fault, you bloody idiot.· I was a bloody idiot to think that that had anything to do with it.
· Spike looked at her as if she was a complete idiot.· And like complete idiots, we yearned for a close look.· Afterwards I had my myocardial infarction in my office, feeling a complete idiot.· He felt a complete idiot for having misjudged the moment so badly.· He made a complete idiot of himself over that, and I swear it wasn't done deliberately.· Then he began to feel a complete idiot.· I developed a pretty good ear, although I started out as a complete idiot.· But please, Mama, Lucinda pleaded silently, don't treat me like a complete idiot.
NOUN· Then old man Grierson treats me like the village idiot.· The ladies were patient, as no doubt they always are with village idiots.· Pharaon is to all intents and purposes a simpleton, a virtual village idiot.
VERB· I felt a right idiot, being carried out on a stretcher, everybody gawping at me.· It made me feel like an idiot.· I felt an idiot, blacking out like that.· But he felt like an idiot, a golf impostor.· Afterwards I had my myocardial infarction in my office, feeling a complete idiot.· For about 20 minutes I waved this damn thing and felt like a total idiot.· He felt a complete idiot for having misjudged the moment so badly.· Petey felt like an idiot again.
· I could look a real idiot if I don't use it.· That made him look like an idiot.· Anything but a lucky accident might well make him look an idiot.· Teachers ran the risk of looking like idiots or liars.
· Alain was played as an idiot who hardly danced at all except to full over his own feet.
· You think he's an idiot, because he gets things wrong-the background, the politics, Walter, us.· Nobody, of course, thought Switzer was an idiot for accepting such a prestigious and well-paying job.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a prize idiot/fool
1a stupid person or someone who has done something stupid: - Today provides a more immediate issue- the final opportunity for cricket to show it's not administered entirely by blithering idiots.
It was all your fault, you idiot.2old use someone who is mentally ill or has a very low level of intelligence—idiotic /ˌɪdiˈɒtɪk◂ $ -ˈɑːt-/ adjective: Stop asking such idiotic questions.—idiotically /-kli/ adverb