Idiot vs. Moron — What's the Difference?

An idiot, in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person. 'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers.

A person who is considered foolish or stupid.

A stupid person.

A person with mild intellectual disability having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

A person who is considered foolish or stupid.

A stupid person; an idiot; a fool.

A person with profound intellectual disability having a mental age below three years and generally unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

A person of mild mental subnormality in the former classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50–70.

(pejorative) A person of low general intelligence.

A mentally retarded person whose intellectual development proceeds normally up to about the eighth year of age and is then arrested so that there is little or no further development; an adult having the mental development of an 8-to-12-year old. A moron is considered capable of doing routine work under supervision.

(pejorative) A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.

Hence, a very stupid person.

A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.

An inferior olive size having a woody pulp and a large clingstone pit, growing in the mountainous and high-valley districts around the city of Moron, in Spain.

(uncommon) idiotic, stupid

A person of subnormal intelligence

A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office.

An unlearned, ignorant, or simple person, as distinguished from the educated; an ignoramus.

A human being destitute of the ordinary intellectual powers, whether congenital, developmental, or accidental; commonly, a person without understanding from birth; a natural fool. In a former classification of mentally retarded people, idiot designated a person whose adult level of intelligence was equivalent to that of a three-year old or younger; this corresponded with an I.Q. level of approximately 25 or less.

A fool; a simpleton; - a term of reproach.

A person of subnormal intelligence