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
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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
Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imbecility
Noun
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However, what seemed like the perfect life was really a complex house of cards built on lies and insanity.—
David Hookstead OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 June 2026
-
Support ballot measures or candidates (not named Steyer) focused on reforming the state’s zoning and regulatory insanity.—
Michelle Cottle,
Mercury News,
16 June 2026
Noun
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Horkheimer and Adorno had concluded that advanced capitalism, far from being a technocratic monolith, had an inherent tendency toward chaos and madness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
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Get your 28% discount before the Prime Day madness begins.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
15 June 2026
Noun
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Their meeting goes disastrously, with Ainsley sinking to previously unknown depths of idiocy.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
16 Nov. 2025
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But my naivete and idiocy about what this was going to take was staggering to me just six months later.—
Scott Feinberg,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
There's a certain simplicity to it.—
Amber Harding OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
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That kind of simplicity is nice.—
Eileen Finan,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
Noun
-
After Monday’s ruling, social media lit up with criticism for Sorsby regaining eligibility minus the first two games of the 2026 season, while others pointed out the seeming absurdity.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
9 June 2026
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There was an absurdity to it all that took the edge off the menace.—
Heidi Blake,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
The Naked Gun delivers joyous stupidity with true dedication.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
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The article added that stupidity has become popular and viral.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
25 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imbecility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imbecility. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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