different between moron vs oxymoron

English

Etymology

Coined by psychologist Henry H. Goddard in 1910, from Ancient Greek ????? (m?rós, “foolish, dull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m????n/
• Rhymes: -????n

Noun

moron (plural morons)

1. (informal, derogatory) A stupid person; an idiot; a fool.
2. (dated, originally) A person of mild mental subnormality in the former classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50–70.

   Synonym: feeble-minded

Usage notes

The current medical term for having an IQ between 50 and 70 is “mild intellectual disability”.

Synonyms

• Thesaurus:fool
• Thesaurus:idiot

Derived terms

• Baltimoron
• moronic
• moronicity
• moronism
• moronocracy

Related terms

• oxymoron
• sophomore

Translations

Further reading

• Moron (psychology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Monro, normo-

Esperanto

Noun

moron

1. accusative singular of moro

French

Etymology

From English, from Ancient Greek ????? (m?rós, “foolish, dull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?.???/

Noun

moron m (plural morons, feminine moronne)

1. (Quebec) moron, idiot

Adjective

moron (feminine singular moronne, masculine plural morons, feminine plural moronnes)

1. (Quebec, informal) stupid

Middle English

Noun

moron

1. Alternative form of morwe

Romanian

Noun

moron m (plural moroni)

1. Alternative form of morun

Declension

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mo??on]
• Hyphenation: mo?ron

Adjective

moron (comparative daha moron, superlative en moron)

1. fool, stupid, idiot, moronic

Noun

moron (definite accusative moronu, plural moronlar)

1. a moron

   Bir morona a??k oldum. — I fell in love with a moron.

Declension

Welsh

Etymology

From Old English moran, plural of more (“edible root, carrot, parsnip”), from Proto-West Germanic *morh?, from Proto-Germanic *murh?, from Proto-Indo-European *mr?k- (“edible herb, root, tuber”).

Noun

moron f pl (singulative moronen)

1. carrots

Mutation

Further reading

• "moron" in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (A Dictionary of the Welsh Language). University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, 2014.

English

Etymology

First attested in the 17th century, noun use of 5th century Latin oxym?rum (adj), neut. nom. form of oxym?rus (adj), from Ancient Greek ???????? (oxúm?ros), compound of ???? (oxús, “sharp, keen, pointed”) (English oxy-, as in oxygen) + ????? (m?rós, “dull, stupid, foolish”) (English moron (“stupid person”)). Literally "sharp-dull", "keen-stupid", or "pointed-foolish" – itself an oxymoron, hence autological; compare sophomore (literally “wise fool”), influenced by similar analysis. The compound form ???????? (oxúm?ron) is not found in the extant Ancient Greek sources.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ks??m????n/
• (US) enPR: äk-s?-môr?-än, äk-s?-môr?-än, IPA^(key): /??ksi?m???n/, /?ks??m???n/

Noun

oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora)

1. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
   • 1996, John Sinclair, "Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations", in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson (eds.), Mass Media and Free Trade: NAFTA and the Cultural Industries, University of Texas Press

     For Theodor Adorno and his colleagues at the Frankfurt School who coined the term, "culture industry" was an oxymoron, intended to set up a critical contrast between the exploitative, repetitive mode of industrial mass production under capitalism and the associations of transformative power and aesthetico-moral transcendence that the concept of culture carried in the 1940s, when it still meant "high" culture.

2. (loosely, sometimes proscribed) A contradiction in terms.

Usage notes

• Historically, an oxymoron was "a paradox with a point", or "pointedly foolish: a witty saying, the more pointed from being paradoxical or seemingly absurd" at first glance. Its deliberate purpose was to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. The common vernacular use of oxymoron as simply a contradiction in terms is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, and is perhaps best avoided in certain contexts.

Antonyms

• pleonasm, redundancy

Derived terms

• oxymoronic
• oxymoronically
• oxymoronicity
• oxymoronicness

Related terms

Translations

See also

• Category:English oxymorons
• contranym

References

Further reading

• Oxymoron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List, with discussion of classification (archive)