different between dunderhead vs imbecile

English

Etymology

dunder +? head

Noun

dunderhead (plural dunderheads)

1. (somewhat dated) A stupid person; a dunce.
   • 1883, Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, ch. 6:

     You're the stupidest dunderhead I ever saw or ever heard of, so help me Moses!

   • 1915, Basil King, The Side Of The Angels, ch. 3:

     Poor old fellow's a dunderhead. That's where it is in a nutshell. Never could make a living. . . . Nice old chap as ever lived. Only impractical, dreamy. Gentle as a sheep—and no more capable of running that big, expensive plant than a motherly old ewe.

   • 2004 May 23, Maureen Dowd, "Bay of Goats," New York Times (retrieved 29 Nov 2017):

     Cheney & Company swooned over Mr. Chalabi because he was telling them what they wanted to hear. . . . A half-dozen dunderheads who thought they knew everything assumed they could control Mr. Chalabi and use him as the instrument of their utopian fantasies.

Alternative forms

• dinderhead (Southwestern England)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fool

Derived terms

• dunderheaded

English

Etymology

From Middle French imbécile, from Latin imb?cillus (“weak, feeble”), literally “without a staff”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?mb??si?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??mb?s?l/, /??mb?s?l/

Noun

imbecile (plural imbeciles)

1. (obsolete) A 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. (derogatory) A fool, an idiot.

Usage notes

• In modern times, “imbecile” is often used in jocular insults.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:idiot

Derived terms

• imbecilic (adjective)
• imbecility (noun)

Translations

Adjective

imbecile (comparative more imbecile, superlative most imbecile)

1. (dated) Destitute of strength, whether of body or mind; feeble; impotent; especially, mentally weak.

   hospitals for the imbecile and insane