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Prepositions after adjectives

Stupid with different prepositions

Stupid is most commonly used with of and in. Other combinations may express different meanings or sound unnatural in standard English.

Quick answer

Which prepositions are used with stupid?

Use stupid of for judging an action or person, and stupid in for lack of skill in an area. Stupid for can mean foolish because of something. Stupid to is uncommon after the adjective itself, and stupid like is nonstandard in most contexts.

It was stupid of me to forget the keys.
He's stupid in financial matters.
She felt stupid for trusting him.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
stupid of + person

Judging someone's action

Use stupid of to comment on behaviour or decisions.

It was stupid of us to ignore the warning.
That was stupid of him.
2
stupid in + area

Talking about lack of ability

Use stupid in for weakness or poor understanding in a field or activity.

I'm stupid in chemistry.
He feels stupid in social situations.
3
stupid for + reason/action

Explaining why something feels foolish

Use stupid for to explain the cause of embarrassment or poor judgement.

She felt stupid for asking.
They were called stupid for waiting.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
stupid of
It was stupid of me to argue.
judging an action as foolish
stupid in
He's stupid in practical matters.
lacking skill or understanding in an area
stupid for
I felt stupid for believing the rumour.
feeling foolish because of an action
stupid to
It would be stupid to leave now.
to here introduces an infinitive clause, not a fixed adjective-preposition pattern
stupid like
He says stupid things like that every day.
like here introduces an example, not a standard pattern after stupid

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using stupid to before a noun

Stupid to is used with infinitives, not directly with nouns.

✕ He's stupid to maths. ✓ He's stupid in maths.

Using stupid like as a fixed pattern

Like does not normally follow stupid as a selected preposition.

✕ She is stupid like science. ✓ She is stupid in science.

Confusing stupid of and stupid for

Stupid of judges behaviour directly, while stupid for explains the reason for feeling foolish.

✕ It was stupid for him to shout at them. ✓ It was stupid of him to shout at them.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. It was stupid ___ me to miss the meeting.
2. He's a bit stupid ___ technology.
3. She felt stupid ___ trusting the message.

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Paste the complete sentence below. Linguix checks the preposition together with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.

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Frequently asked questions

Is stupid in common English?

It exists, but speakers often prefer bad at or not good at in everyday conversation.

Can I say stupid to do something?

Yes. In that structure, to introduces an infinitive clause, as in It was stupid to lie.

Is stupid like correct?

Not as a fixed adjective-preposition pattern. Like may appear separately to introduce examples.

sacred-to-in-by-of, for "sad for" or "sad about"? "safe for", "safe from" or "safe in"? sanguine about, in, of, on or for? "satisfactory to" or "satisfactory for"? satisfied with, of, by, in or on? "satisfying for" or "satisfying to"? scarce in, for, at, on or of? scared of, to, about, for or by? "scary for" or "scary to"? "scathing about", "scathing in" or "scathing of"? "sceptical about" or "sceptical of"?

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