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imbecile

/ˈɪmbəsɪl/noun, adjective

imbecile is spelled I-M-B-E-C-I-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a derogatory noun, imbecile means “A fool, an idiot” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of imbecile is imbeciles.

How many letters and syllables are in imbecile?

Letters8: I-M-B-E-C-I-L-E
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is imbecile?

Imbecile appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce imbecile?

  • UK /ɪmbəˈsiːl/
  • US /ˈɪmbəsɪl/
  • US /ˈɪmbəsəl/

Imbecile has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-imbecile.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of imbecile

  • imbeciles plural
  • more imbecile comparative
  • most imbecile superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does imbecile mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteA person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child, in medical circles meaning a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal five- to seven-year-old child.

  2. 2

    derogatoryA fool, an idiot.

adjective

  1. 1

    datedDestitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.

    hospitals for the imbecile and insane

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Imbecile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchimbécile (person with limited mental capacity)
Germangeistig Zurückgebliebener, geistig Behinderter, Schwachsinniger (person with limited mental capacity), Idiot, Dummkopf (fool)
Portugueseimbecil (person with limited mental capacity)
Spanishimbécil (person with limited mental capacity)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does imbecile come from?

Borrowed from Middle French imbécile, from Latin imbēcillus (“weak, feeble”), literally “without a staff”.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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