🇮🇹Italian Source WordCode: IT

cretino

Pronunciation / Transliteration: kreˈtino

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Cretin/ˈkrɛt.ɪn/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #15000 frequency
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🇮🇹 Example Sentence in Italian:

"Si è comportato da cretino dimenticando l'incontro."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A person who is considered to be foolish or stupid.

    "He acted like a cretin when he forgot the meeting."
  2. 2

    A person suffering from a congenital condition resulting in physical and mental disabilities.

    "In the past, cretins were often marginalized in society."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term 'cretin' originates from the French word 'crétin', which itself comes from the Alpine dialect of the word 'Christien', meaning 'Christian'. Historically, it referred to people with intellectual disabilities, emphasizing their humanity and dignity, but has evolved into a derogatory term for someone perceived as foolish.

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