sanity
nounUS /ˈsæ.nə.ti/ · UK /ˈsæn.əˌti/
Etymology From Middle English sanite, sanyte, sanytee, from Middle French sanité, from Latin sānitās, from sānus (“healthy”) + -itās (“-ity”). By surface analysis, sane + -ity.
1
The condition of being sane.
- preserve one's sanity
- lose your sanity
2 more examples
- decree someone's sanity
- The template is [Richard] Nixon’s “madman theory” of diplomatic engagement – shorthand for prompting your adversaries to doubt your sanity and mental instability to the point where they are intimidated into otherwise unlikely concessions.2026 April 8, Robert Tait, “Trump may be using Nixon’s ‘madman theory’ – and similar infamy may await”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2026:
2
Reasonable and rational behaviour.
- Derived terms
- insanity, lose sanity, nonsanity, sanitary, sanitize, sanity check, sanity test
- Related terms
- sane
- Hypernyms
- condition, mental health
- Coordinate terms
- rationality, stability