imbecility
/ˌɪmbəˈsɪləti/noun
imbecility is spelled I-M-B-E-C-I-L-I-T-Y: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, imbecility means “The quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, especially of mind” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of imbecility is imbecilities.
How many letters and syllables are in imbecility?
| Letters | 10: I-M-B-E-C-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 139,999th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is imbecility?
Imbecility appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th 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 imbecility?
- /ˌɪmbəˈsɪləti/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-imbecility.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of imbecility
- imbecilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does imbecility mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, especially of mind.
- 2
Something imbecilic; a stupid action, behaviour, etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Imbecility in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality of imbecile, stupid behaviour:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | imbécilité |
| Spanish | imbecilidad |
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 imbecility come from?
From Middle English inbecillite, from Middle French imbecilité, imbecillité, and its etymon Classical Latin imbēcillitās. By surface analysis, imbecile + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).