In Franco-Provençal (the Romance speech of French Switzerland and adjacent areas of France), a person affected by hypothyroidism was called a cretin, literally, “wretch, innocent victim,” The word meant simply “Christian” and emphasized the hypothyroid victim's basic humanity.

The English language has no shortage of cruel names for people, and one of them is cretin, which is what you’d call someone who is very, very dumb in the head. Back before cretin meant “a stupid person,” it was a medical term for a physical deformity that came from a specific disease.

2025年1月2日 · cretin (plural cretins) A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism. [from 1779] (by extension, derogatory) An idiot.

CRETIN definition: 1. an offensive word for a person who is considered to be very stupid or unpleasant 2. an offensive…. Learn more.

Learn all about the word "CRETIN" in English: definitions, translations, synonyms, pronunciations, examples, and grammar insights - all in one complete resource.

2 meanings: 1. old-fashioned a person with cretinism 2. offensive a person considered to be extremely stupid.... Click for more definitions.

Definition of cretin noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. (informal, offensive) an offensive way to refer to person who you think is very stupid. What cretin did that? Want to learn more? (old-fashioned, offensive) a word for a person with a very low level of intelligence that is now considered offensive.

Let me know if these cretins [= jerks, idiots] bother you.

Define cretin. cretin synonyms, cretin pronunciation, cretin translation, English dictionary definition of cretin. n. Often Offensive 1. A person with cretinism. 2. A person considered to be foolish or unintelligent. cre′tin·oid′ adj. cre′tin·ous adj. American Heritage®...

cretin is considered offensive. cretin has developed meanings and uses in subjects including pathology (late 1700s) genetics (1910s) plants (1910s)