mental handicap: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

The accepted terms are 'intellectual disability' or 'developmental disability'. In the UK, 'learning disability' is commonly used in official contexts.

It is associated with a history of segregation, institutionalization, and viewing people as inherently deficient. The word 'handicap' itself has origins linked to begging and incapacity, which the disability community has rejected.

Only in very specific academic or historical discussions when directly quoting or analyzing the language of the past, and even then it should be clearly flagged as outdated and offensive.

Historically, 'mental handicap' referred to lifelong intellectual and adaptive limitations present from childhood. 'Mental illness' refers to conditions affecting mood, thinking, and behavior (like depression or anxiety) that can occur at any life stage. They are distinct categories, and conflating them is incorrect and stigmatizing.

A now-dated and largely disused term for an intellectual disability, historically referring to a significant limitation in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior that originated before adulthood.

Mental handicap is usually archived/taboo – historically technical, now considered outdated and offensive in professional and everyday contexts. largely absent from modern formal language, though may be encountered in older texts. in register.

Mental handicap: in British English it is pronounced /ˈmɛntl̩ ˈhændɪkæp/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈmɛn(t)l̩ ˈhændiˌkæp/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.