stupidity

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French stupidité (“insensibility; lack of intelligence”) and partly borrowed from Latin stupiditās (“lack of intelligence, foolishness”),^[2][3][4][5] formed from stupidus (“amazed, confounded; dull, foolish”) and the suffix -tās.^[2][4][6] Etymonline takes it from Latin alone.^[6] The Latin adjective, the source of stupid, comes from stupeō (“to be stunned, amazed”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of intelligence or common sense: about 1541, in Robert Copland's translation of Galen.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the main sense, which has not changed, the word long kept the physical and emotional senses of its Latin source.^[6][2] From 1568 it meant numbness of feeling, apathy or indifference, later chiefly in religious writing;^[2][6] from 1603 loss of sensation or a state of stupor;^[2][6] from about 1615, dazed astonishment.^[2] In the 17th century it could also be a failure to resent an insult or injury, seen as a weakness.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "dulness; heaviness of mind; sluggishness of understanding".^[7] An instance of foolishness, a stupid act or idea, is recorded from 1594.^[2] In south-west Lincolnshire the word meant obstinacy (1886).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1541 – lack of intelligence or common sense.^[2][4]
• 1568 – apathy, numbness of feeling.^[2][6]
• 1594 – a stupid act or idea.^[2]
• 1603 – loss of sensation; stupor.^[2][6]
• c. 1615 – dazed astonishment.^[2]
• 1886 – in Lincolnshire, obstinacy.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being stupid; lack of intelligence or good sense.^[8][4][2]
2. A stupid act, remark or idea: the stupidities of the old regime.^[8][4][2]

Related words

• stupid
• stupor
• stupefy
• stupendous

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins