variants
also idiotical
as in dumb
having or showing an inability to understand or make sensible choices
He ended up making millions from an idea that many had dismissed as idiotic. I'm afraid I said some really idiotic things yesterday.
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Recent Examples of idiotic
But, here, the characters suffer from the horror film syndrome of making one idiotic decision after another because that’s what the film requires to send the action in its intended direction.
—
Scott Phillips, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Lacey Chabert—forever to be known as Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls—commands the screen with warmth, while Dustin Milligan plays the part of a (slightly idiotic) snowman turned man to perfection.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 26 Nov. 2024
O’Malley’s characters are excitable, idiotic, often repellent, but there’s a poignancy to them, too.
—Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2024
The current policies are idiotic.
—The Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for idiotic
Scott Phillips, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Lacey Chabert—forever to be known as Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls—commands the screen with warmth, while Dustin Milligan plays the part of a (slightly idiotic) snowman turned man to perfection.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 26 Nov. 2024
O’Malley’s characters are excitable, idiotic, often repellent, but there’s a poignancy to them, too.
—Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2024
The current policies are idiotic.
—The Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for idiotic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idiotic
Adjective
-
The reigning Super Bowl champs better hope that’s the dumbest thing that one of their players does this season.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Sometimes, actors play a slightly dumber iteration of themselves; think James Van Der Beek in Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 and Liam Neeson in Life’s Too Short (a performance that got Neeson cast in this year’s The Naked Gun).—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
But now, Netflix has deemed that almost any mildly or very successful show like Wednesday must now air its episodes in a 2+ month split, broken in half, or in some ridiculous instances, broken into thirds (see the November 26, December 25, December 31 split for Stranger Things season 5).—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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And on Sunday, the feat got even more ridiculous, as Chapman struck out four batters in an inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, thanks to a wild pitch catcher Carlos Narváez couldn't corral.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Maura’s performance makes Maria Angeles so magnetic and eccentric — earthily practical on some matters, dizzily irrational on others, and sympathetically true to herself on all fronts — that all the film’s other players want for detail and texture by comparison.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
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The roll call of people across the decades who have had access to nuclear weapons includes many who are considerably less rational than the irrational rest of us.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Any suggestion that this is some kind of victory for Combs is ignorant.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
27 Aug. 2025
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In this case, the problem is ethics in the medical profession, as young doctor Andrew Manson (Robert Donat) moves from idealism to disillusionment and back again when faced with ignorant patients who are skeptical of his conclusions, economic hardship, and crooked colleagues.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
We're protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
-
This is a crude and unreasonable attempt to make the discussion into an all-or-nothing affair.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Let sound political prescience but take the place of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done.—
Frederick Douglass,
The Atlantic,
16 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Idiotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiotic. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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