insane

English

Etymology

FromLatinīnsānus(“unsound in mind; mad, insane”),fromin-+sānus(“sound, sane”),equivalent toin-+‎sane.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ɪnˈseɪn/

  • Audio(Southern England):

    (file)

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-eɪn

Adjective

insane(comparativemoreinsaneorinsaner,superlativemostinsaneorinsanest)

1. Exhibitingunsoundnessordisorderofmind;notsane;utterlymad.

   Synonyms:seeThesaurus:insane

   • 1936,Dale Carnegie, “Part 1, Chapter 2. THE BIG SECRET OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE”, inHow to Win Friends and Influence People,page41:

     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 goinsaneapparently 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 goinsane?

   • 1980March 7,Billy Joel,“You May Be Right”,inGlass Houses‎^[1]:

     And you told me not to drive
     But I made it home alive
     So you said that only proves that I'minsane

2. Used by or relating to insanepeople.

   aninsanehospital

   aninsaneasylum

3. Causinginsanityormadness.
4. (informal)Characterized byexcessor theutmostfolly;ridiculous;impractical.

   aninsaneplan

   aninsaneamount of money

   • 1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell,chapter XVI, inThe Mirror and the Lamp,Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:

     The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is aninsaneimmolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

5. (slang)Extremelygood;incrediblyamazing.

   That guy isinsaneat FPS games.

   • 2018August 8, Bill Graveland, “'I'll get better': Paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player working to improve at sledge hockey”, inCBC‎^[2]:

     Cederstrand was all over the ice, whipping his sled around and firing pucks into the net. It's what Straschnitzki is aiming for. "He'sinsane.The turns, the shots. It's something I want to do some day. "

   • 2020August 24, Nicol Natale, “Watch Reese Witherspoon Nail a Seriously Impressive Backflip in This Throwback Video”, inPrevention‎^[3]:

     And fans echoed their responses. "You nailed it, girl! This movie is so special. Your work isinsane!💗, "one person wrote." Is there ANYTHING you can't do?! I'm impressed, "said another.

   • 2020September 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”, inSportskeeda‎^[4]:

     On getting two quick eliminations, SypherPK cries out ecstatically:This gun isinsane,it's the best gun ever! Woohoo!

Synonyms

• SeeThesaurus:insane

Antonyms

• sane

Derived terms

• drive someone insane
• general paralysis of the insane
• general paresis of the insane
• insane asylum
• insane in the membrane
• insanely

Related terms

• insanity

Collocations

Collocations

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

Translations

exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind

• Albanian:i çmendur(sq)
• Arabic:مَجْنُون(ar)(majnūn),مَخْبُول(maḵbūl)
• Armenian:խելագար(hy)(xelagar)
• Azerbaijani:dəli(az)
• Belarusian:шалёны(šaljóny),душэўнахво́ры(dušeŭnaxvóry),бязу́мны(bjazúmny)
• Bengali:পাগল(bn)(pagol),দেওয়ানা(bn)(deōẇana)
• Bulgarian:луд(bg)(lud),душевнобо́лен(bg)(duševnobólen),невменя́ем(bg)(nevmenjáem)
• Burmese:ရူး(my)(ru:)
• Catalan:dement(ca),foll(ca),boig(ca),malament del cap,tronat(ca)(slang),guillat(slang),tocat del bolet(slang)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Tinh thần thất thường(jīngshén shīcháng),Tinh thần thác loạn／Tinh thần thác loạn(zh)(jīngshén cuòluàn),Phong cuồng／Phong cuồng(zh)(fēngkuáng),Phát cuồng／Phát cuồng(zh)(fākuáng)

• Czech:šílený(cs)
• Danish:sindssyg(da)
• Dutch:gestoord(nl),waanzinnig(nl)
• Esperanto:freneza(eo)
• Estonian:hull(et),hullumeelne,nõdrameelne
• Finnish:mielenvikainen(fi),hullu(fi)
• French:dérangé(fr),délirant(fr),fou(fr),dément(fr)
• Galician:tolo(gl),louco(gl)
• Georgian:სულიერად ავადმყოფი(sulierad avadmq̇opi),სულით ავადმყოფი(sulit avadmq̇opi),ფსიქიურად ავადმყოფი(psikiurad avadmq̇opi),შეურაცხადი(šeuracxadi),გიჟი(giži),არანორმალური(aranormaluri),შეშლილი(šešlili),გადარეული(gadareuli)
• German:wahnsinnig(de),verrückt(de),geisteskrank(de)
• Greek:παράφρων(el)(paráfron),τρελός(el)(trelós)

  Ancient:μανικός(manikós)

• Hebrew:בלתי־שפויm(biltí-shafúy)
• Hindi:पागल(hi)(pāgal),दीवाना(hi)(dīvānā)
• Hungarian:őrült(hu),elmebeteg(hu),bolond(hu)
• Icelandic:geðveikur(is)
• Indonesian:sinting(id),edan(id)
• Ingrian:hullu
• Italian:insano(it),pazzo(it),folle(it)
• Japanese:KhíがCuồng った(きがくるった, ki ga kurutta),Cuồng しい(ja)(くるおしい, kuruoshii),Đầuがおかしい(あたまがおかしい, atama ga okashii)
• Javanese:kentir(jv),pekok(jv),edan(jv)
• Kazakh:ақылсыз(aqylsyz),есалаң(esalañ)
• Khmer:ឆ្កួត(km)(chkuət),ឧម្មត្តកៈ(ʼummattaʼkaʼ)
• Korean:제정신이아니다(jejeongsini anida)
• Kyrgyz:жинди(ky)(jindi)
• Lao:ບ້າ(bā)
• Latin:dēmēns,īnsānus(la),vēcors
• Latvian:ārprātīgs,traks,vājprātīgs
• Lithuanian:pamišęs,išprotėjęs
• Macedonian:луд(lud)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic:солиотой(mn)(soliotoj),галзуу(mn)(galzuu)

• Nepali:बौलाहा(baulāhā),पागल(ne)(pāgal)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:sinnsyk(no)

• Old English:wōd
• Ottoman Turkish:دلی(deli),مجنون(mecnun)
• Pashto:لېونی(ps)(lewanay),مجنون(ps)(majnǔn)
• Persian:مجنون(fa)(majnun),دیوانه(fa)(divâne)
• Plautdietsch:domm,errsennich
• Polish:szalony(pl),obłąkany(pl),porąbany(pejorative),pojebany(pl)(vulgar),jebnięty(pl)(vulgar),popierdolony(pl)(vulgar),pierdolnięty(pl)(vulgar),świrnięty(expressive),zdurniały(pejorative)
• Portuguese:insano(pt),doido(pt),louco(pt),débil mental(pt)
• Romanian:nebun(ro),alienat(ro),dement(ro),dezechilibrat psihic
• Russian:душевнобольно́й(ru)(duševnobolʹnój),невменя́емый(ru)(nevmenjájemyj),сумасше́дший(ru)(sumasšédšij),безу́мный(ru)(bezúmnyj),умалишённый(ru)(umališónnyj),поме́шанный(ru)(poméšannyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:лу̑д,бѐзӯман

  Roman:lȗd(sh),bèzūman(sh)

• Slovak:šialený
• Slovene:blazen
• Spanish:enfermo mental,loco(es),demente(es),enajenado(es),alienado(es),perturbado(es),desequilibrado(es),chiflado(es)(colloquial),chalado(es)(colloquial),ido(es),vesánico(es)m,desquiciado(es),sonado(es),trastornado(es),pirado(es)
• Swedish:vansinnig(sv),galen(sv),sinnessjuk(sv)
• Tagalog:baliw(tl)
• Tajik:девона(tg)(devona),маҷнун(majnun),ҷиннӣ(jinni)
• Thai:บ้า(th)(bâa)
• Tibetan:སྨྱོན་པ(smyon pa)
• Turkish:deli(tr)
• Ukrainian:божеві́льний(uk)(boževílʹnyj),безу́мний(uk)(bezúmnyj),шале́ний(šalényj),душевнохво́рий(duševnoxvóryj)
• Urdu:پاگل(pāgal),دیوانہ(dīvānā)
• Uzbek:jinni(uz)
• Vietnamese:điên(vi),cuồng(vi),điên rồ(vi)
• Zazaki:xintc,qudisc

used by, or appropriated to, insane persons

• Dutch:gekken-,krankzinnigen-
• Polish:szaleńczy(pl)

causing insanity or madness

• Bulgarian:подлудя́ващ(bg)(podludjávašt)
• French:dérangeant(fr),démentiel(fr),malsain(fr)
• Portuguese:enlouquecedor
• Romanian:demențial(ro),înnebunitor(ro)

characterized by insanity or the utmost folly

• Bulgarian:невменя́ем(bg)(nevmenjáem)
• Danish:sindssyg(da)
• Finnish:hullu(fi)
• French:fou(fr),chimérique(fr),aberrant(fr),délirant(fr)
• Greek:παράφρων(el)(paráfron),τρελός(el)(trelós)
• Hungarian:őrült(hu),bolond(hu)
• Indonesian:gila(id)
• Italian:folle(it),pazzo(it)
• Polish:szaleńczy(pl)
• Portuguese:insano(pt)
• Romanian:himeric(ro),nebunesc(ro),delirant(ro)
• Russian:невменя́емый(ru)(nevmenjájemyj)
• Spanish:insano(es)

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

Translations to be checked

• Ido:^{(pleaseverify)}dementa(io)
• Interlingua:^{(pleaseverify)}demente

Further reading

• “insane”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• “insane”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
• “insane”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Annies,Sannie,Sienna,inanes,nenias,sannie,sienna

French

Etymology 1

BorrowedfromEnglishinsane,fromLatinīnsānus(“unsound in mind; mad, insane”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/in.sɛjn/
• IPA^(key):/in.sɛn/
• IPA^(key):/ɛ̃.san/

Adjective

insane(pluralinsanes)

1. insane,crazy

Further reading

• “insane”,inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

Etymology 2

BorrowedfromEnglishinsane.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/in.sɛjn/

Adjective

insane(pluralinsanes)

1. (informal)crazy,unbelievable

Italian

Adjective

insanefpl

1. femininepluralofinsano

Latin

Adjective

īnsāne

1. vocativemasculinesingularofīnsānus

References

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