insane
adjective /ɪnˈseɪn/
/ɪnˈseɪn/
- (informal) very stupid, crazy or dangerous
- I must have been insane to agree to the idea.
Extra ExamplesTopics Dangerc2- It seems insane to cut the budget now.
- The whole idea is quite insane.
- It was an insane risk to take.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- absolutely
- completely
- quite
- …
- (informal) extremely annoyed; angry
- This job is driving me insane.
- She was driving me insane with her constant chatter.
- (formal or old-fashioned) seriously mentally ill and unable to live in normal society
- Doctors certified him as insane.
- The prisoners were slowly going insane.
Which Word? Talking about mental healthTalking about mental health- Do not use the words mad or crazy to describe somebody who is suffering from a real mental illness. Say instead that somebody has mental health issues/problems or is mentally ill:
- I have experienced mental health issues since the age of 14.
- a charity that helps mentally ill people live independently
- Disturbed can be used to describe somebody who has mental health issues because of very unhappy or unpleasant experiences:
- He works with emotionally disturbed children.
- Insane is a formal or old-fashioned term used to describe somebody suffering from a serious mental illness and unable to live in normal society:
- The question is, was the man insane when he committed the crime?
Extra ExamplesTopics Personal qualitiesc2- He is criminally insane, unable to stop himself attacking women.
- He later became insane and was confined to an asylum.
- He was clearly insane.
- He went almost insane when he heard that his daughter had died.
- In 1975 she was certified clinically insane and sent to a mental hospital.
- She claimed she was temporarily insane during the attack.
- The question is, was the man insane when he committed the crime?
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- absolutely
- completely
- quite
- …
- the insanenoun [plural] (old-fashioned) people who are insane
- a hospital for the insane
More Like This Plural adjectival nounsPlural adjectival nouns- the blind
- the deaf
- the destitute
- the dead
- the dying
- the elderly
- the faithful
- the homeless
- the injured
- the insane
- the jobless
- the middle aged
- the old
- the poor
- the rich
- the sick
- the squeamish
- the wealthy
- the wicked
- the wounded
- the young
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin insanus, from in- ‘not’ + sanus ‘healthy’.