MENTAL DEFICIENCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mental deficiency mean? 

• MENTAL DEFICIENCY (noun)
  The noun MENTAL DEFICIENCY has 1 sense:

1. mild mental retardation

  Familiarity information: MENTAL DEFICIENCY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENTAL DEFICIENCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mild mental retardation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

mental deficiency; moronity

Hypernyms ("mental deficiency" is a kind of...):

backwardness; mental retardation; retardation; slowness; subnormality (lack of normal development of intellectual capacities)

 Context examples 

Manifestations of this syndrome include low birth weight, failure to thrive, developmental defects, organ dysfunction, mental deficiencies, behavioral problems and poor motor coordination.

(Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

I put it down to mental deficiency on my part, but since then I have decided that it was for want of preparation.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)