gagaadj.adv.n.
/ˈɡɑːɡɑː/, /ˈɡaɡə/, U.S. /ˈɡɑˌɡɑ/ slang.
A. adj. (and adv.)
Doting, exhibiting senile decay; mad, ‘dotty’; fatuous. Also as adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective] > senile
doteda1375
dotardc1405
dotterel1577
dotardly1632
doitereda1790
doitrified1808
doitering1828
gaga1920
1905 Daily Chron. 18 Mar. 8/6 ‘Ah, you English,’ quoth Mr. De Vries not so long ago, after a round of the London theatres, ‘you like to laugh—ga-ga!’.. Is not that the pathetic cry of our present drama, ‘Ga-ga!’]
1920 F. M. Ford Let. 26 July (1965) 116 The V.G.F. [sc. Victorian Great Figure] must be gaga!
1921 M. Baring Passing By 210 Sir Arthur is quite gaga and took me for George the whole evening.
1926 E. Ferber Show Boat xix. 385 Nola darling, you've just gone gaga, that's all. What do you mean by staying down there in that wretched malarial heat!
1927 Sunday Express 13 Mar. 4 The conventional pictures of a young man and a young woman looking ‘ga-ga’ at each other.
1929 W. J. Locke Ancestor Jorico xviii ‘But why did he leave the half-million to his son, in his will?’ ‘Gaga, my dear Binkie. Just gaga. Senile, if you'd like it better.’
1956 C. P. Snow Homecomings xvii. 116 Hiding behind his smoke~screen of platitudes like an amiable old man already a bit ga-ga.
1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo iii. 158 If Godmanchester was so gaga that he blabbed like this, then our prospects were alarming.
B. n.
A doting or senile person; a madman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > psychogeriatric illness > person
gaga1938
psychogeriatric1971
1938 S. Beckett Murphy xi. 240 Mr. Endon..the most biddable little gaga in the entire institution.
1941 A. Koestler Scum of Earth 180 Couldn't understand what he said... Disastrous old gaga.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.1920