Entitled: "Idiot" A man is sitting in a chair; he is wearing a device that is designed to inhibit mobility. Lithograph appeared in "Des maladies mentales considerees sous les rapports medicale, hygienique et medico-legal" by ?tienne Esquirol. An idiot, dolt, or dullard is an intellectually disabled person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is said to be idiotic, and to suffer from idiocy. A dunce is an idiot who is specifically incapable of learning.