as in idiot
a stupid person
only an imbecile would leave their car unlocked, with the keys in the ignition, and then be surprised when the vehicle was stolen
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or imbecilic
as in idiotic
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of imbecile
Sam Sacks, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2016
Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.
—Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2016
Steve Lopez Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2021
Noun
Evil is insolent and strong; beauty enchanting but rare; goodness very apt to be weak; folly very apt to be defiant; wickedness to carry the day; imbeciles to be in great places, people of sense in small, and mankind generally unhappy.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2016
Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.
—Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2016
Adjective
But Newsom was voted into office by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, and he’s handled the unprecedented dual challenges of COVID-19 and climate change reasonably well and far better than the imbecile Trump.
—Steve Lopez Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imbecile
Adjective
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Too many young people are making idiotic short-term financial decisions that hamper long-term success.Chandler Dean, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2023
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Beyond the Lungs Two other cardiac cases impressed me — and blew away the idiotic notion that young people are immune to COVID-19.Tony Dajer, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2020
Noun
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An underrated gem — not enough people have seen this top-tier season — Squirrels Trip has some fabulous vocals, very funny lyrics, a heavy dose of stupid, and an engaging story.Barry Levitt, Vulture, 19 Apr. 2024
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The stupid!Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 July 2021
Adjective
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Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.Daniel Jackson, Allure, 18 July 2017
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Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.Andy Benoit, The MMQB, 10 July 2017
Adjective
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The authors concluded that any attempt to create a synthetic substance to replace the mud — something Major League Baseball has explored — would be foolish.Evan Bush, NBC News, 4 Nov. 2024
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To end its losing tradition, Colorado has to stop making foolish choices with its payroll.Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 2 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Even in light of how argumentative Suzie has been with Detective Neck Brace, this inane comment feels like gaslighting.Chris Klimek, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2024
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Perhaps counterintuitively, Succession’s depiction of the workings of the digital media industry as ruthless and inane has actually motivated real digital media workers to actively interact with the show online.Amos Barshad, WIRED, 26 May 2023
Adjective
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Schools must accept that mission statements without curriculum alignment are fatuous; the way schools define themselves is through the experience that flows from their curriculum.Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
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Neither Berlanti nor Gilroy believe in them beyond the fatuous setup of their competitiveness with each other.Armond White, National Review, 17 July 2024
Adjective
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But apparently, California just couldn’t abide this challenge to its primacy as the most witless state in the union.Noah Rothman, National Review, 23 Sep. 2024
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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) To borrow Jeff Bridges’s description of the magazine that Simon Pegg’s character once ran, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is witless.Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024
Adjective
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Comedy videos about customer service and asinine Atlanta eatery rules were already popular on TikTok but have seen major pickup since Lee’s viral videos.CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
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Rogozin's claim that the only evidence Roscosmos could offer of the Moon landings was a book by Leonov is asinine.Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Imbecile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imbecile. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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