Idiot!とは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From 中期英語 idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- +‎ -ot.

発音

• (英国発音, 米国発音) enPR: ĭdĭət, IPA: /ˈɪdiət/
• (yod-coalescence, nonstandard) IPA: /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
• ハイフネーション: id‧i‧ot

名詞

idiot (plural idiots)

1. (derogatory) A person of low general intelligence.

   Synonyms: imbecile, moron, retard (offensive); see also Thesaurus:fool, Thesaurus:idiot

   Only an idiot would fail this exam.

   After failing a hat-trick of exams, the teacher called him an idiot.

2. (derogatory) A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.

   He thought people who don't like cricket are idiots. He later got into fights with people who like football.

   We think that people who cycle without a helmet are idiots.

   • 2019 October 28, Devan Cole, “Biden calls Trump an ‘idiot’ for dismissing Russian election interference”, in CNN‎:

     “He’s an idiot – in terms of saying that. Everybody knows this. Everybody knows it. Nobody doubts it,” Biden said.

   • 2024 November 21, Andrew Kaczynski, “RFK Jr. compared Trump to Hitler and praised descriptions of his supporters as ‘Nazis’”, in CNN‎:

     “One of the things that you write so beautifully, and your stuff is so fun to read, but you write about Trump, quote, ‘The way that you build a truly vicious nationalist movement is to wed a relatively small core of belligerent idiots to a much larger group of opportunists and spineless fellow travelers whose primary function is to turn a blind eye to things,’” Kennedy said, reading Taibbi’s own writing back to him.

3. (obsolete, medicine, psychology) A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.

   Synonyms: imbecile, moron, retard (offensive)

   • 1896, Clifton Johnson, “Folks”, in What They Say in New England (non-fiction), Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Lee and Shepard Publishers, page 105:

     Idiots were thought to be peculiarly under the care of the Deity, and it was believed that those who treated them kindly would be blessed.

   • 1956, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 7”, in Sexual Offences Act 1956‎, page 2:

     It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.

使用する際の注意点

• While pejorative, the word is only a weak insult, and between close friends or family members it may be used affectionately.

派生語

関連する語

形容詞

idiot (comparative more idiot, superlative most idiot)

1. (uncommon) Idiotic, stupid.

Further reading

• idiot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia