{"id":4771,"date":"2021-06-04T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=4771"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:23:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:23:39","slug":"stupider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/stupider\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Stupider<\/em> a Word?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A leading principle in learning grammar is that there are no stupid questions. However, there can be questions about the word stupid.<\/em><\/p>\n

That brings us to the topic of today’s post: Is stupider<\/em> really a word? Or would it be better grammar to say more stupid<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Neither is very polite, and the answers might surprise you.<\/p>\n

The Smart Answer to the Stupider<\/em> Question<\/h2>\n

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

To understand why this is, there are a couple of things to know.<\/p>\n

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

Longer, three-syllable comparative words are generally treated differently. Instead of -er <\/em>endings, they are prefaced by \u201cmore\u201d when a difference of degree is noted. That’s why we write more coordinated <\/em>instead of coordinateder<\/em> or more musical<\/em> rather than musicaler<\/em>. Aside from being difficult to speak, the wrong versions of these words would grind a sentence to a halt.<\/p>\n

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

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 <\/em>than it is to describe it as more pretty<\/em>; more dangerous<\/em> is easier to hear and understand than dangerouser<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One More Not-So-Stupid Detail<\/h2>\n

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<\/em> or most stupid<\/em>. That should make sense, given what you know about the other comparative qualities of the word.<\/p>\n

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

Come Back for Grammar Tips You Can Use<\/h2>\n

We regularly post new grammar tips and ideas, so stop back soon for another post. Or, if you have a question about American English that has been on your mind for a while, leave us a comment below. We might even use it as inspiration for a future article!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,10,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-definitions","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4771"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7268,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771\/revisions\/7268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}