insane
adj/ɪnˈseɪn/
Etymology From Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- + sane.
1
Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
- What is the cause of insanity? Nobody can answer such a sweeping question as that, but we know that certain diseases, such as syphilis, break down and destroy the brain cells and result in insanity. In fact, about one-half of all mental diseases can be attributed to such physical causes as brain lesions, alcohol, toxins, and injuries. But the other half—and this is the appalling part of the story—the other half of the people who go insane apparently have nothing organically wrong with their brain cells. In post-mortem examinations, when their brain tissues are studied under the highest-powered microscopes, they are found to be apparently just as healthy as yours and mine. Why do these people go insane?1933, Dale Carnegie, “Part 1, Chapter 2. THE BIG SECRET OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 41:
- And you told me not to drive But I made it home alive So you said that only proves that I'm insane1980 March 7, Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”, in Glass Houses:
2
Used by or relating to insane people.
- an insane hospital
- an insane asylum
3
Causing insanity or madness.
- Were such things here, as we doe speake about? / Or haue we eaten on the insane Root, / That takes the Reason Prisoner?c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
4
Informal Characterized by excess or the utmost folly; ridiculous; impractical.
- an insane plan
- an insane amount of money
3 more examples
- The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Yenshui is a fairly ordinary town situated between Tainan and Chiayi. However, during the Lantern Festival, on the 15th day of the first moon, the whole town goes insane.1998, Robert Storey, “South-West Taiwan”, in Taiwan (Lonely Planet), 4th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 292, column 2:
- And what actinic, mind-wrenching form could the countermeme take? How could human hands assemble something so devastatingly powerful and hold it steady; what human mind could wield it without exploding from the inside out? What would deploying that concept in anger do to human ideatic space? How far out from the solution is modern memetic science, a year, a century? What insane impossibility has Hughes just committed himself to?2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 191–192:
5
Slang Extremely good; incredibly amazing.
- That guy is insane at FPS games.
- Cederstrand was all over the ice, whipping his sled around and firing pucks into the net. It's what Straschnitzki is aiming for. "He's insane. The turns, the shots. It's something I want to do some day."2018 August 8, Bill Graveland, “'I'll get better': Paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player working to improve at sledge hockey”, in CBC:
2 more examples
- And fans echoed their responses. "You nailed it, girl! This movie is so special. Your work is insane! 💗," one person wrote. "Is there ANYTHING you can't do?! I'm impressed," said another.2020 August 24, Nicol Natale, “Watch Reese Witherspoon Nail a Seriously Impressive Backflip in This Throwback Video”, in Prevention:
- On getting two quick eliminations, SypherPK cries out ecstatically: This gun is insane, it's the best gun ever! Woohoo!2020 September 19, Saahil Agnelo Periwal, “Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: SypherPK claims a Victory Royale by using the 'rarest' item in the game- The Galactus Gun”, in Sportskeeda:
6
Informal Enraged; furious.
- Synonyms
93 terms
5150, bananas, barking, barking mad, buggish, buggy, bughouse, barmy, batchy, batpoop, bats, batty, bonkers, bread baskets, cracked, crackers, cra-cra, cray, cray-cray, crazed, crazy, crazy as a bedbug, crazy as a cootie, crazy as a cootie bug, crazy as a pet coon, cuckoo, daffy, daft, demented, deranged, distraught, disturbed, doolally, dotty, eccentric, fruit loops, gaga, hatstand, harebrained, insane, kooky, loon, loco, loony, loony tunes, loopy, lunatic, mad, mental, mentally ill, meshigener, meshugge, moonsick, nerts, non compos mentis, nonsane, nucking futs, nut job, nutballs, nut, nuts, nutso, nutty, nutter, off the beam, off the chain, over the edge, potty, psycho, psychoceramic, psychotic, sicko, screwy, squirrelly, starkers, tonto, unbalanced, unsane, wackadoodle, weird, whackjob, whacko, whacky, wode, yampy, zany, apeshit, batcrap, batshit, bat-shit, fucked in the head, fucked up, ripshit- Derived terms
- drive someone insane, general paralysis of the insane, general paresis of the insane, insane asylum, insane in the membrane, insanely, insaneness, insanery, insaniac, insanify, noninsane
- Related terms
74 terms
insanity, a kangaroo loose in the top paddock, a half bubble off plumb, a few clowns short of a circus, a few fries short of a Happy Meal, a few spanners short of a tool box, away with the fairies, crazy as a shithouse rat, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, driving on three wheels, few cards short of a full deck, few cards shy of a full deck, few sandwiches short of a picnic, few X short of a Y, have a geranium in the cranium, have a screw loose, have bats in one's belfry, have static in the attic, have strudel in the noodle, his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road, insane in the membrane, losing marbles, nobody home, no longer in possession of one's faculties, not all there, not have both oars in the water, not playing with a full deck, not running on all cylinders, not right in the head, off one's box, off one's chump, off one's head, off one's hinges, off one's nut, off one's rocker, off one's tree, off one's trolley, off the deep end, off the planet, off the rails, one brick short of a full load, one card shy of a full deck, one fry short of a Happy Meal, out of one's box, out of one's gourd, out of one's head, out of one's cotton-picking mind, out of one's mind, out of one's skull, out of one's tree, out of one's wits, out there, round the bend, round the twist, stark raving mad, stark staring mad, stark staring bonkers, the cheese has slid off one's cracker, three fries short of a Happy Meal, three stops short of Dagenham, touched in the head, toys in the attic, wired wrong, mad as a box of frogs, mad as a hatter, mad as a mongoose, mad as a March hare, nutty as a fruit cake, Appendix:Snowclones/few X short of a Y, mad person, rave, becraze, stupid, wild- Hyponyms
- crazy as a fox, crazy like a fox