Home British & World English insane

Definition of insane in English:

insane

adjective

1In a state of mind which prevents normal perception, behaviour, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.
‘he had gone insane’
- ‘But them my parents would think I was mentally insane, and send me off to some special school.’
- ‘Now I am finding out that he was telling people at work that I'm insane.’
- ‘He cannot prove to me that I am insane, for my mind has the same defect that afflicts his.’
- ‘Seriously, who expects me to really go in and converse with such an insane psycho?’
- ‘This contrasts the twisted behaviour of the degenerate, sociopathic, perhaps insane killer that's thrown into the mix.’
- ‘They intend to argue that he is too sick to defend himself, while denying that he is mentally incompetent or insane.’
- ‘Had I just gone mentally insane, or was I holding four crisp one hundred dollar bills in my hand?’
- ‘When you say diminished state, I mean, I haven't heard any sign that he had a mental defect or was insane.’
- ‘Her mind told her she was insane, but her instincts were guiding her now.’
- ‘The wife was certifiably insane and had spoken of committing suicide on many occasions.’
- ‘Honestly, I don't see how I could make my social life dependent on just one person without going insane.’
- ‘Why a beautiful women would want to work around mentally insane men all day was something Rachel would never be able to figure out.’
- ‘No one actually accuses me of being insane, at least not to my face.’
- ‘She laughed, her eyes weren't focused and she seemed to have lost her mind and gone insane.’
- ‘It was one of those awkward silences that made me want to scream and break my mirror to prevent myself from going insane.’
- ‘An unspoken agreement seemed to pass between them that they were all certifiably insane.’
- ‘And anyway, why would we consider Nietzsche's writings the product of an insane mind?’
- ‘The man who was slowly becoming more and more insane in Jesse's mind smiled brightly at his words.’
- ‘Abortion has given way to euthanasia, and euthanasia shall give way to the killing of the criminally and mentally insane.’
- ‘Their country was like a man who was losing a great battle, and in his mad and insane mind he was forced to do rash things.’
mentally ill, severely mentally disordered, of unsound mind, certifiable, psychotic, schizophrenic
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1. 1.1 (of an action or quality) characterized or caused by madness.
  ‘his eyes were glowing with insane fury’
  ‘With insane fury, the giant men broke down the doors of the monastery.’
  ‘There was an insane feeding frenzy going on inside the reception tent.’
  ‘The vendor's insane ravings do not throw any light on the matter.’
  ‘She looked up with eyes of insane fury that didn't seem at all normal, even for a psycho.’
  ‘I added more insane giggles for effect hoping that it'd do the trick.’
  ‘When the demons realized that the Slayer had entered into some sort of insane frenzy, they quickly turned and charged the other one.’
  ‘When the three of them made it safely past Marsha and her insane, childish behavior, they sighed.’
  ‘He lay on his back, knocked down by Michelle's flying fists that connected with his jaw in an insane fury.’
  ‘Last year, when my parents decided it would be a good idea to call community mental health and the cops due to my insane behaviour Plato still got fed.’
  ‘He is propelled into an insane frenzy.’
2. 1.2 Extremely annoyed.
  ‘a fly whose buzzing had been driving me insane’
  ‘Utter failure to even attempt to play winning baseball drives me insane.’
  ‘He's going insane over questions being raised about his daughter's paternity.’
  ‘If the Brewers didn't want a fight, Gomez shouldn't have posed and then shouldn't have gone insane when Cole called him out on it.’
  ‘He's driving me insane!’
  mad, crazy
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3. 1.3 Extremely foolish; irrational.
  ‘she had an insane desire to giggle’
  ‘I am baffled at the ridiculous insane media coverage.’
  ‘In these circumstances it is insane and illogical that we persist with youth football in darkest winter.’
  ‘The idea that we treat these people as if they're mindless children is insane and deadly.’
  ‘For people to go out and say my agent made a mistake is utterly ridiculous and insane.’
  ‘At the same time, all this does is alienate liberal supporters who are perplexed by her insane and pointless maneuvring.’
  ‘But all the same I gave it to him without wetting my pants of muttering something stupid and insane.’
  ‘He rebels by breaking free of the role by doing senseless, insane things despite his obvious talent.’
  extremely foolish, idiotic, stupid, silly, senseless, nonsensical, pointless, absurd, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, preposterous, weird, bizarre, fatuous, inane, imbecilic, moronic, asinine, mindless, hare-brained, half-baked, ill-conceived
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2US informal Shocking; outrageous.
‘they were making insane amounts of money’
- ‘Why address the symptom, piracy, of the main problem, insane taxes on games, instead of the main problem?’
- ‘In 2014, $60 for a game is a little insane.’
- ‘It is absolutely insane that he was even in jail.’
- ‘The lines get insane if it's anywhere from an hour to closing or on weekend mornings.’
- ‘Despite its insane budget, it wasn't a badly made movie.’
- ‘Find a crazy low-budget horror director, shove insane amounts of money and creative control at them, and just let 'em make movies.’
- ‘The idea of combining toys and games is brilliant, but those two properties are abusing it by charging insane prices.’
- ‘The weather was insane, pouring rain and wind.’
- ‘It may escape the insane rental prices that typify so many New York neighborhoods.’
- ‘The insane legal costs of fighting Government intrusion is not worth it financially.’
1. 2.1 Astonishingly good or impressive; amazing.
  ‘the peanut butter chocolate is insane’
  ‘"Yeah, that was pretty insane and incredible."’
  ‘"I think it would be phenomenal to have Rihanna there or Beyonce, that would be insane," she said.’
  ‘"It's insane," she said of getting awarded along with Winfrey.’
  ‘Sales have been insane and we have stepped up development to suit.’
  ‘To return to the screen with this love and support is absolutely insane.’
  ‘Check out some insane star trails in this time-lapse video of Death Valley.’
  ‘All expectations were exceeded - the action and resolution is insane at this scale.’
  ‘One of the big expenses comes from just how much insane detail they put in these high graphics games.’
  ‘You can get insane deals on shoes, so check it out!’
  ‘London-based solo bassist and instrumentalist Zander Zon puts his insane skills on display with this cover of Adele's "Someone Like You".’