IMBECILITY Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

imbecility

noun

ˌim-bə-ˈsi-lə-tē

Definition of imbecility

as in insanity

a foolish act or idea was arrested for the sheer imbecility of speeding down a dark road with no headlights on

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in madness

lack of good sense or judgment we were stunned by the imbecility of the ideas presented by this once-respected biologist

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of imbecility When Constanze reaches her breaking point, Mozart’s imbecility is exposed as fragility. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for imbecility

Noun

Fewer than one per cent of Americans charged with felonies plead insanity, and the great majority of those who do have previously been hospitalized with a serious psychiatric condition.

— Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
And the polarizing trial of Lindsay Clancy, a labor-and-delivery nurse who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after killing her three children in 2023, has captivated the country since July.

— Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of insanity

Noun

With one of the regional sites next April moving from Bridgeport to PeoplesBank Arena, and another regional scheduled for Springfield, UConn has a chance to really extend the madness past March around here.

— Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
Prison interviews and recovered footage slowly reveal how deeply entangled the two men had become in their shared madness.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of madness

Noun

It’s been a classic staple over decades of British comedy, which from Basil Fawlty to David Brent has rejoiced in puncturing pomposity to reveal idiocy and incompetence.

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
The school board’s radical idiocy does not negate the state’s obligation to think about the longer haul — specifically, the structurally unbalanced budgets facing Chicago Public Schools as far as the eye can see.

— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of idiocy

Noun

Coworkers spin up absurd theories about each other, and this setting—the office as the most fertile breeding ground for speculation—allows Park’s absurdities to bend plausibility without breaking it.

— James Folta, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
Georgian life in that period was extremely difficult, but there was also a kind of absurdity to it, even a charm.

— JD Linville, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of absurdity

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imbecilities

imbecility

imbibe

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“Imbecility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imbecility. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of imbecility

noun

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