/kret'n/ or /kree'tn/ n Congenital {loser}; an obnoxious person; someone who can't do anything right It has been observed that many American hackers tend to favor the British pronunciation /kre'tn/ over standard American /kree'tn/; it is thought this may be due to the insidious phonetic influence of Monty Python's Flying Circus
one with arrested physical and mental development with dystrophy of bones and soft tissues, due to congenital lack of thyroid secretion
disapproval If you call someone a cretin, you think they are very stupid. = moron. an offensive word for someone who is extremely stupid (crétin, from cretin , from christianus )
one whose physical and mental development has been retarded or arrested due to thyroid deficiency
[ 'krE-t&n ] (noun.) 1779. From French crétin (dialectal form of chrétien), from Vulgar Latin christianus, from Latin Christianus, in the lost sense of 'unfortunate person'.