imbecility

noun

ˌim-bə-ˈsi-lə-tē How to pronounce imbecility (audio)
Definition of imbecilitynext
1
as in insanity
a foolish act or idea was arrested for the sheer imbecility of speeding down a dark road with no headlights on

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment we were stunned by the imbecility of the ideas presented by this once-respected biologist

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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
  1. insanity
  2. madness
  3. idiocy
  4. simplicity
  5. absurdity
Noun
  • The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over.
    — Ryan Ottignon, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2026
  • Bennett asked the jury to find Hinton not guilty by reason of insanity.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of insanity
Noun
  • Some went as far as likening the outage to life in prehistoric times or descending into madness.
    — Angela Yang, NBC news, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Republican states, beginning with Texas, started this madness, and other states, both Democrat and Republican, followed like sheep.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of madness
Noun
  • There's always been an element of complete idiocy in the culture.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Forty years on, Spy magazine is best remembered, not unjustly, as the first entity to call out Trump for his tackiness, villainy, and arrant idiocy.
    — David Kamp, Air Mail, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of idiocy
Noun
  • One can treat it as an indelible feature of human psychology, an unavoidable by-product of our appetite for simplicity and affiliation.
    — Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Despite the beery bonhomie and singalong-friendly simplicity of their tunes, the Twisted Teens are grappling with an increasingly complex tangle of contradictions and tensions.
    — Stuart Berman, Pitchfork, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of simplicity
Noun
  • Firstman excels at highlighting the absurdity of celebrity and the pretension of coastal media types.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 4 Nov. 2026
  • To expose the assumptions, prejudices and absurdities of those interacting with them in the real world — whether on the right or left, in a position of tremendous power or someone off the street.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of absurdity

Browse Nearby Words

imbecilities
imbecility
imbibe
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Imbecility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imbecility. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of cockamamie

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All