derange
/dɪˈreɪn(d)ʒ
/verb [with object]
1Make (someone) insane: that business last month must have deranged him a bit...
- Privately, she wondered if they were watching her to see if she would have a breakdown or if she was mentally deranged or something, but she said nothing to that effect.
- Meanwhile, police based on preliminary investigation ruled out the possibility of him being mentally deranged.
- His unhinged language suggested that persecution mania briefly deranged him.
Synonyms
insane, mad, of unsound mind, out of one's mind, not in one's right mind, disturbed, unbalanced, unhinged, unstable, crazed, demented, irrational, berserk, frenzied, maniac, lunatic, psychopathic, certifiable, raving, raving mad;
Latin non compos mentis;
British sectionable
informal touched, crazy, cracked, mental
British informal barmy, barking, barking mad, round the twist
1.1Cause (something) to act irregularly: stress deranges the immune system...
- In scoliosis, the anatomy is deranged not only at each vertebral level but also between the convex and concave sides of the curve in the spine.
- As when an individual soldier lost his balance, many flailing and falling soldiers deranged the enemy formation causing a serious decrease in the enemy's own firepower.
- Autosomal genes often showed deranged regulatory levels, indicating they were in pathways perturbed by X chromosomal changes.
2 archaic Intrude on; disturb: I am sorry to have deranged you for so small a matter...
- From her gauze veiling the young woman spoke:-- "We are sorry to derange you. The guard made a mistake. Pardon!"
Derivatives
derangement
/ noun ...- Another controversial issue is that of ‘cannabis psychosis’, or long-term mental derangement bought on by cannabis use.
- She points out that only a proportion of its patients have been ordered there by a court after committing an offence through mental derangement.
- There is no proof that they are suffering from any mental derangement.
Origin
Late 18th century: from French déranger, from Old French desrengier, literally 'move from orderly rows'.
- astatine
- aster
- -aster
- asterisk
- asterism
- astern
- asteroid
- asteroidal
- Asteroidea
- asteroseismological
- asteroseismologist
- asteroseismology
- as/that was
- as the case may be
- as the crow flies
- asthenia
- asthenic
- asthenosphere
- asthenospheric
- (as) thick as a brick
- (as) thick as poundies
- (as) thick as thieves
- (as) thick as two (short) planks (or as a plank)
- (as) thin as a rake
- asthma