Is stupider a word or not

A leading principle in learning grammar is that there are no stupid questions. However, there can be questions about the word stupid.

That brings us to the topic of today’s post: Is stupider really a word? Or would it be better grammar to say more stupid?

Neither is very polite, and the answers might surprise you.

The Smart Answer to the Stupider Question

As surprising as it might be to some, stupider is actually a proper word. Many people will claim it’s incorrect and prefer the term more stupid, but either is valid.

To understand why this is, there are a couple of things to know.

First, lots of short, one-syllable words get -er endings to indicate a greater degree or quantity (also known as comparative language). For instance, big becomes bigger, short becomes shorter, thin becomes thinner, and so on.

Longer, three-syllable comparative words are generally treated differently. Instead of -er endings, they are prefaced by “more” when a difference of degree is noted. That’s why we write more coordinated instead of coordinateder or more musical rather than musicaler. Aside from being difficult to speak, the wrong versions of these words would grind a sentence to a halt.

Two-syllable comparative words can fall under both categories. Tidy can become tidier, for instance, but careful is formed as more careful. Some words, such as stupid, can be used either way.

There are exceptions to these guidelines, of course, and explaining the nuances would require a further look into linguistics. For the sake of simplicity here, we will simply point out that this is a case where grammar follows speech patterns. It’s simply easier to say that something is prettier than it is to describe it as more pretty; more dangerous is easier to hear and understand than dangerouser.

One More Not-So-Stupid Detail

While we are on the subject, it’s worth pointing out that when writing or speaking comparatively, it’s also acceptable to use either stupidest or most stupid. That should make sense, given what you know about the other comparative qualities of the word.

So, while it might not be very nice to refer to something as stupid, you are well within your grammatical rights to refer to it as stupider, more stupid, most stupid, or even the stupidest.

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Updated 02 November 2021: The word stupid is two syllables long. As an adjective, it can take both comparative and superlative forms. Stupid can take these forms either with a suffix (-er or ­-est) or with a preceding word (more or most). Both constructions are correct.

Stupider or More Stupid?

To determine how to create the comparative form of an adjective, you have to look at the number of syllables. For adjectives that are one syllable long, you can generally affix -er to the end to make them comparative. For example, because the word fat is only one syllable and its comparative form is fatter.

You cannot, however, add -er to an adjective that is three syllables or more. Instead, these adjectives become comparative with the addition of a preceding more. So, the word intelligent becomes more intelligent instead of intelligenter.

This brings us to two-syllable adjectives. They exist in between the hard-and-fast rules above. Some use -er, and some use more. For example:

• Happy becomes happier
• Lively becomes livelier
• Tangled becomes more tangled
• Bitter becomes more bitter

So which is stupid? Many writers feel uncomfortable using stupider, which can feel … well, not very smart. They opt for more stupid. However, it turns out that dictionaries and academics favor stupider. Indeed, this word has been in common usage for two centuries!

However, there is nothing grammatically incorrect about more stupid.

Stupidest or Most Stupid?

Every rule we outlined above for comparative adjectives remains in place for superlative forms.

With one-syllable adjectives like fat, you affix an -est suffix. With adjectives of three or more syllables, you add most before them.

Similarly, two-syllable adjectives can go either way. As with stupider, stupidest is the acknowledged standard superlative. Still, you can use most stupid without violating any grammar rule.

You should note, however, that the word stupid is an incredibly insulting pejorative. It would be best for you not to use it in your formal writing at all.

Additional Examples

This polluted air also makes us stupider, slowing us down on cognitive tests and making it easier to get distracted.  – Fast Company

Rich Lowry called the matter … perhaps the “stupidest and most unworthy controversy of the year.”  –Slate

Related: Now read “Never Confuse THEN and THAN Again”

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If we wished to describe a fellow who had made a bet that he could eat a series of exceptionally hot peppers we might refer to him as rash, rasher than most, or the rashest person we knew. We might also say that he is more foolhardy, or the most foolhardy person we have seen. But what if we want to describe him as stupid? Would he be more stupid or stupider? Welcome to another episode of Usage Questions for Which There is No Answer That Will Make Everyone Happy.

Soft Rules of Superlatives

The rules governing the proper way of forming the comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives are messy things. At first glance the matter seems simple enough; students are often advised that adjectives of a single syllable are modified with —er or —est, those with three or more syllables are modified with more or most, and those with two syllables are modified with -er or -est if they end with a vowel or vowel sound (such as pretty or narrow), but modified with more or most if they end in certain consonants (such as benign), and modified with either —er/est or more/most for words ending in certain other consonant sounds. That is not simple at all.

There are also obvious exceptions to the above rules. Some single-syllable adjectives are not modified either way, on account of irregularity (good/better/best) or due to convention (ill is typically not modified with -er or -est, unless you are a Beastie Boy). And some three-syllable words work fine with the -er and —est endings, if they have an un— at the beginning (unhappier). However, most people have a solid grasp of how to modify adjective with either a single syllable or more than two. It’s the middle ground that creates problems.

«Realness» of Stupider and Stupidest

Some people find stupider and stupidest objectionable, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Both have been in widespread use for hundreds of years, there are no usage guides that we know of forbidding their use, and there are plenty of words which share characteristics of stupid, such as polite (both are disyllables ending in an alveolar stop), that manage to end in -er or —est without bothering anyone. One possibility is that disyllabic adjectives ending in a voiceless alveolar stop (polite) sound pleasing to our ear when ending in -er, but the voiced alveolar stops (stupid) do not. Even if this is true, it seems a bit unwieldy to add to the chapter of ‘how to make your adjectives happy and healthy.’

We list stupider and stupidest as the comparative and superlative forms of stupid, because that is what they are. They are honest-to-goodness, one-hundred-percent, grade-A, real words. In case anyone tries to tell you otherwise here is a small sample of them being used in edited prose over the ages.

…part and counterpart wandered independently about the earth in the stupidest manner for a while, till the late time came.
— Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, 1891

«All ladies like them, I suppose,» said that stupidest and most stubborn of all humble friends, Miss Macnulty.
— Anthony Trollope, The Eustace Diamonds, 1873

Death, insanity/suicide degeneration 

that is, just getting stupider as they get older
— Ezra Pound, The Cantos of Ezra Pound, 1972

Joe suspects, as does the neighborhood woman who gives the film a piquant fairy-tale quality when her dog is stolen in the opening scene, that for some reason people are getting stupider and stupider all the time.
— Janet Maslin, The New York Times, 27 Feb. 1998

If stupider and stupidest grate upon your ears you may simply use more or most instead. Looking beyond this problem word, if you find yourself faced with a two-syllable adjective, and need to modify it, do not become alarmed, as adjectives can smell fear. Let your ear, and the reaction of your audience, be your guide. If readers hiss, or begin to ululate, after you tack on an —er you may wish to consider modifying this word with more next time you use it. But insofar as the modification of most two-syllable adjectives is concerned the only advice we can give with absolute certainty is to never make a bet about eating hot peppers.

It’s not really a question of opinion. Stupider is, as the dictionaries and usage you quote show, entirely grammatical. It is also in rather common use, though less common than more stupid.

The main issue here is that words of more than one syllable tend to resist the -er suffix. Wiktionary’s entry on the -er suffix says this (emphasis mine):

The suffixes -er and -est may be used to form the comparative and superlative of most adjectives and adverbs that have one syllable and some that have two syllables.

I believe that people’s aversion to this word stems from the belief that «-er is usually used for monosyllabic words» is a rule, rather than a guideline (or, more correctly, an observation). This tendency probably has phonological roots related to stressed/unstressed final syllables interacting with the suffix, but I really don’t know enough to say.

If a word has a meaning everyone can agree on, appears in dictionaries and is in use for centuries, this means it is a word!. It might be a word with social connotations of «improper speech» or «bad grammar», but a word nonetheless.

Is stupider a word?

It turns out stupider is an actual word. The word stupid is an adjective that refers to someone or something that’s foolish or senseless.

This adjective, however, only gets you so far. When you want to compare two nouns, you’ll need what’s called a comparative adjective. For example, in the sentence “Sam is bigger than Selena,” the adjective bigger is comparative. It tells you that Sam is larger in size than Selena.

If you want to compare two things that are stupid, you would use the comparative form of the adjective stupid to describe which has a greater level of stupidity. In most cases, comparative and superlative adjectives follow a simple pattern. You add the suffix –er to the original adjective when you want to form the comparative. Stupider is one acceptable form of the comparative form.

But there is another.

Stupider or more stupid

More stupid is also accepted as a comparative form of the adjective stupid. Stupider and more stupid are used interchangeably. In the English language, stupid is one of just a few adjectives that have two grammatically correct options for their comparative form.

Why is that? Well, some two-syllable adjectives (in particular, adjectives ending with –y, –er, –le, and –ow) follow the –er rule above. This includes dirty (which becomes dirtier and dirtiest), little (littler and littlest), and narrow (narrower and narrowest).

In most other cases, adjectives with two syllables use the words more and most to create their comparative and superlative forms. For example, important and public are both adjectives with multiple syllables. Their comparative forms are more important and more public. Their superlative forms are most important and most public.

Stupid is a two-syllable adjective. Based on the rule above, it should use the words more and most to form its comparative and superlative forms, and it does. However, it also breaks this rule by using –er and –est as alternative forms.

A few other adjectives use –er and –est as well as more and most, such as clever, likely, and pleasant. This means both of these sentences are grammatically correct: “Betty is more likely to win the election than Bobby” and “Betty is likelier to win than Bobby.”

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Is stupidest a word?

As you may have guessed, the adjective stupid also has a superlative form. If you’re comparing more than two things, you can use a superlative adjective. Consider this sentence: “Sam is bigger than Selena, but Sean is the biggest.” In this case, Sean is larger in size than both Selena and Sam. This shows a progression in size among the three people, with Selena as the smallest, Sam in the middle, and Sean as the largest.

Stupidest or most stupid

Just like the comparative form, the superlative form of stupid can be formed in two different ways. In most cases, superlative adjectives also follow a simple pattern. To make one-syllable adjectives superlative, just add -est (e.g. tallest, bravest, and hottest). A two-syllable word ending in -y becomes superlative when you change the Y to an I and add -est (e.g. funniest, healthiest, and spiciest). For all other words, just add most or least in front of them. You add the suffix –est to form the superlative. Once again, stupid is an example of an adjective that takes both stupidest and most stupid as acceptable superlatives.

When do you use stupider vs. stupidest?

For example, you could say “Thing A is stupid, but thing B is stupider.” This would express that you find thing B to have a greater level of stupidness than thing A. If you said “Thing B is more stupid than thing A,” it would mean the same thing as the first sentence. Both sentences show the comparative relationship between things A and B. If you’re comparing more than two things, you’ll need to use stupidest or most stupid.

Examples of stupider in a sentence

• The movie was even stupider than I expected.
• My sister thought she was stupider than I am because I got better grades.
• The idea is worth considering, even if it sounds stupider than all the others.

Examples of stupidest in a sentence

• That is just the stupidest explanation I’ve ever heard!
• Some people unkindly described the man as the stupidest alive.
• They ruined my favorite show with the stupidest ending possible.

Armed with this knowledge, you’re certainly taking a step toward being a smarter grammar student—and maybe even the smartest.