Word.ws English Dictionary

full retard

full retard noun: a state of engaging in extreme levels of stupidity.

Noun (1)

full retard (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory, offensive, slang) A state of engaging in extreme levels of stupidity.
    • Everyone is on both sides is going full retard about this Executive Order from Trump. No one is thinking rationally.2018, Joe Dixon, The Insanity Wars: Why People Are Crazier Than Ever
    • They say never go full retard. America, thanks to democracy, eagerly embraced exactly that fate.2019, Mark Romel, The Seer of Unreality

Noun (2)

full retard (uncountable)

  1. (machinery) The setting on a magneto when the ignition spark occurs as late as possible, just before the piston reaches top dead center.
    • It is characteristic of the usual magneto to give an ignition spark at a somewhat lower speed with the spark control in the full advance than in the full retard position.1911 December, “Intensifying the Retarded Spark”, in Ignition and Accessories, volume 1, number 3, page 85
    • Briefly, the objectionable features of the magneto are that the intensity of the spark depends directly upon the speed of the magneto—that is, the hottest spark comes at the highest speeds and the thin spark at the low speeds, that there is a difference in the intensity of the spark in the rang of...1915, H.A. Minturn, “Generator-Battery Ignition”, in The American Chauffeur, page 165

Examples of full retard in a sentence

  • "You're a real fucking character, John-O," he indicated as he began chuckling out loud seeing his friend being to perform what they both called the "full retard."2024, Thomas Corcoran, Six Feet from the Edge:
  • Interrupter set back of center at full retard, ½ inch.1918, Charles Brian Hayward, Automobile Ignition, Starting, and Lighting, page 155:

Origin of full retard

From the 2008 film Tropic Thunder, in which "going full retard" is used to describe an actor growing to identify too much with the mentally subnormal character he played.

Questions about full retard

What does full retard mean?
Full retard means a state of engaging in extreme levels of stupidity.
How do you use full retard in a sentence?
"You're a real fucking character, John-O," he indicated as he began chuckling out loud seeing his friend being to perform what they both called the "full retard."
What part of speech is full retard?
Full retard is a noun.

Words near full retard in the dictionary

  1. full process
  2. full processes
  3. full rank
  4. full ratchet
  5. full ratchets
  6. full retard
  7. full rhyme
  8. full rhymes
  9. full ride
  10. full rides
  11. full sail

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: full retard (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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Cite this entry: “full retard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/full_retard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.