lunatic
(no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) an insane person.
a person whose actions and manner are marked by extreme eccentricity or recklessness.
a person legally declared to be of unsound mind and who therefore is not held capable or responsible before the law: a former legal term.
(no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) insane.
characteristic or suggestive of lunacy; wildly or recklessly foolish.
Older Use. designated for or used by the insane: a lunatic asylum.
gaily or lightheartedly mad, frivolous, eccentric, etc.: She has a lunatic charm that is quite engaging.
Origin of lunatic
1Other words from lunatic
- lu·nat·i·cal·ly, adverb
- half-lu·na·tic, adjective
Words Nearby lunatic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use lunatic in a sentence
Fine, but there are lunatic sums of money being spent on art, surely?
William, Kate, and Jay Z’s Favorite Art Star: Alexander Gilkes' World of Rock Stars and Royalty | Tim Teeman | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt could also be true that she really was an insufferable lunatic afraid of catching Ebola from the plebeians.
“I saw a lunatic, simply stated,” the victim, a contractor from nearby Bristol, told police.
Can America’s Favorite Ex-Con Mayor Win Again? | David Freedlander | June 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTEveryone on the sidewalk looked at her like she was a lunatic, but she didn't care—she wanted that part.
New York’s Greatest Show Or How They Did Not Screw Up ‘Guys and Dolls’ | Ross Wetzsteon | April 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is only one word which I loathe more than I do lunatic and that word is crazy.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show | Robert W. Chambers | February 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Unfortunately, as you say, I was present, and I tell you that our friend Barbiche behaved like a lunatic.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAnd I should say the same of a still-born baby that I had never seen alive, or of a lunatic whom I had not once seen sane.
The Creators | May SinclairThe provision of a lodging for a lunatic was, moreover, an exception to the prohibition of the payment of rent for a pauper.
English Poor Law Policy | Sidney WebbMoreover, the Central Authority took no steps to get such persons removed to lunatic asylums.
English Poor Law Policy | Sidney WebbThere, get along; if he were not so grossly immoral, he would be fit to shut up in a lunatic asylum.
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket | Honore de Balzac
British Dictionary definitions for lunatic
/ (ˈluːnətɪk) /
a person who is insane
Origin of lunatic
1Derived forms of lunatic
- lunatically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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