Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

insane

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads

English

Etymology

From Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- +‎ sane.

Pronunciation

Adjective

insane (comparative more insane or insaner, superlative most insane or insanest)

  1. Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus: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:
      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?
    • 1980 March 7, Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”, in Glass Houses‎:
      And you told me not to drive
      But I made it home alive
      So you said that only proves that I'm insane
  2. Used by or relating to insane people.
    an insane hospital
    an insane asylum
  3. Causing insanity or madness.
  4. (informal) Characterized by excess or the utmost folly; ridiculous; impractical.
    an insane plan
    an insane amount of money
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      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.
    • 1998, Robert Storey, “South-West Taiwan”, in Taiwan (Lonely Planet)‎, 4th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 292, column 2:
      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.
    • 2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 191–192:
      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?
  5. (slang) Extremely good; incredibly amazing.
    That guy is insane at FPS games.
    • 2018 August 8, Bill Graveland, “'I'll get better': Paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player working to improve at sledge hockey”, in CBC‎:
      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."
    • 2020 August 24, Nicol Natale, “Watch Reese Witherspoon Nail a Seriously Impressive Backflip in This Throwback Video”, in Prevention‎:
      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 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:
      On getting two quick eliminations, SypherPK cries out ecstatically: This gun is insane, it's the best gun ever! Woohoo!
  6. (informal) Enraged; furious.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Collocations

Collocations
  • completely insane
  • totally insane
  • almost insane
  • quite insane
  • criminally insane
  • legally insane
  • temporarily insane
  • hopelessly insane
  • incurably insane

Descendants

  • → French: insane
  • → German: insane

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

Anagrams

Remove ads

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English insane.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /in.sɛjn/, /in.sɛn/, /ɛ̃.san/
  • Audio (France (Toulouse)):(file)

Adjective

insane (plural insanes)

  1. insane, crazy
  2. (modern usage, informal, figurative) crazy, unbelievable

Further reading

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English insane. Doublet of insan.

Adjective

insane (strong nominative masculine singular insaner, not comparable)

  1. (colloquial, figurative) insane, crazy
    • 2023 June 15, Ole Schulz, “Nyege Nyege im Festsaal Kreuzberg: Vom Nil an die Spree”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎, →ISSN:
      Wer am Samstag und Sonntag in den Festsaal Kreuzberg kommt, sollte darauf vorbereitet sein. Es werde „insane“ werden, frohlockt Astan KA. Wer das verpasst, ist selber schuld.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2025 July 19, Anna Fastabend, “Fixierung auf das große Geld: Milchgesichter, die von Millionen träumen”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎, →ISSN:
      Das sei ihm egal, sagt der Qualmer. Es ginge bloß darum, so schnell wie möglich in eine Führungsposition zu kommen: „Allein das Einstiegsgehalt ist insane.“
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Positive forms of insane (uncomparable)
More information number & gender, singular ...
Remove ads

Italian

Adjective

insane f pl

  1. feminine plural of insano

Latin

Adjective

īnsāne

  1. vocative masculine singular of īnsānus

References

  • “insane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “insane”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “insane”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads