Synonyms for stupidity
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Foolishness
foolishness, idiocy, folly, imbecility, silliness, unwisdom, ineptitude, fatuity, schmuckiness slang
2. Lethargy
Other
dumbness informal, obtuseness, non-sense, stolidity, unintelligence, stupidicy, stupidness rare, stupidité rare
Definitions
- n. 1
The property of being stupid.
I suppose you can put it down to gross stupidity, but that's not much of an excuse.
- n. 2
An act that is stupid.
Jimmy's stupidity cost him his car.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- stupidities → foolishnesses, idiocies, follies, imbecilities…
Choose the right word
Stupidity is dulness and slowness of mental action which may range all the way from lack of normal readiness to absolute imbecility.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- folly Who lives without folly is not so wise as he thinks.
- foolishness I'm getting endlessly annoyed by this foolishness.
- idiocy If you can't impress them with skill, impress them with idiocy.
- lethargy Lethargy is a common symptom of that disease.
- slowness My daughter's slowness to take action is a pain.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| stupidity | rising | |
| folly | steady | |
| foolishness | rising | |
| idiocy | steady | |
| imbecility | falling | |
| lethargy | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- folly2
- 6 letters
- idiocy4
- 7 letters
- fatuity
- 8 letters
- lethargy3, slowness2, dumbness, unwisdom
- 9 letters
- thickness2, silliness3, stolidity, stupidicy
- 10 letters
- ineptitude4, imbecility, obtuseness, stupidness
- 11 letters
- foolishness3
- 12 letters
- sluggishness3, schmuckiness
- 14 letters
- unintelligence
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (folly2 = 2 syllables).