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debilism

debilism noun: a hereditary condition characterized by low intelligence in which one can understand words but not abstract concepts.

Noun

debilism (uncountable)

  1. A hereditary condition characterized by low intelligence in which one can understand words but not abstract concepts.
    • Psychological examinations Lower intelligence levels predominated in group B (in 5 out of 7 persons examined, including debilism in 2, and mental retardation in 3).1971, Polish Endocrinology, volume 22, page 147
    • - Type 1: low intelligence [the ability of distinguishing various stimuli], low docility [the ability of memorizing any stimuli], low talent [the ability of associating some particular stimuli]. Such type is called "debilism".[1977 [1976], Marian Mazur, “Cybernetic Cognition of Intellect”, in Proceedings of the International Congress for Cybernetics, volume 8, Namur: Association Internationale de Cybernétique, →LCCN...

Examples of debilism in a sentence

  • The old psychiatrists of Eastern Europe also included in their taxonomy "debilism" or "salon debils".2006, Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology, Afterword, p. 221-222
  • Among the diseases eligible for such surgical intervention [i.e. sterilization], the following medical conditions were included: debilism, schizophrenia, manic-depressive disorder, […]2019 September 30, Kasper Sipowicz, Tadeusz Pietras, “Life unworthy of life – eugenics of “deteriorated” people in the Third Reich”, in...

Origin of debilism

Compare Polish debilizm and Russian дебилизм (debilizm), ultimately from Latin debilis (“weak; disabled”). By surface analysis, debile + -ism.

Questions about debilism

What does debilism mean?
Debilism means a hereditary condition characterized by low intelligence in which one can understand words but not abstract concepts.
How do you use debilism in a sentence?
The old psychiatrists of Eastern Europe also included in their taxonomy "debilism" or "salon debils".
What part of speech is debilism?
Debilism is a noun.

Words near debilism in the dictionary

  1. debigulating
  2. debil-debil
  3. debil-debils
  4. debile
  5. debiles
  6. debilism
  7. debilitant
  8. debilitants
  9. debilitate
  10. debilitated
  11. debilitatedly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: debilism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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