hare-brainedadj.
Having or showing no more ‘brains’ or sense than a hare; heedless, reckless; rash, wild, mad. Of persons, their actions, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > madness, extreme folly > [adjective]
woodc900
madc1300
wild1515
hare-brained1548
idle1548
harish1552
frantic1561
hare-brain1566
lunatic1571
lunatical1599
datelessa1686
flaky1964
tonto1982
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adjective] > rash or reckless
recklesseOE
redmodOE
unreckless?c1225
hastivec1300
racklec1300
testyc1374
rabbisha1387
temeraryc1410
temerous1461
rash1509
temerarious1532
hare-brained1548
temerarec1550
hare-brain1566
hot-spurred1573
overrash1577
hotspur1586
madcap1591
wretchless1598
Phaetontic1608
zeal-blind1615
Phaetontal1617
unresponsable1619
Phaetontical1630
phaetonicala1640
Phaetonic1708
hell-bent1731
harum-scarum1751
unresponsible1764
suicidal1768
rumgumptious1781
shy1787
devil-may-care1799
bullheaded1818
devil-may-carish1825
temeritous1892
kamikaze1952
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V 216 b My desire is that none of you be so unadvised or harebrained as to be the occasion that [etc.].
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. 148 If his sonne be haughtie, or haire brained, he termeth him courageous.
1615 J. Stephens Satyrical Ess. 100 Whilst they, out of a hare-brained lunacie desire battaile.
1643 W. Prynne Soveraigne Power Parl. i. 42 The hair-brain'd advise of his young Cavalieres.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 144 Perhaps it will make me hare-brain'd.
1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets (1870) vii. 172 The excesses of mad, hairbrained, roaring mirth.
1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles iii. xxii Keeping hare-brained follies at arm's-length.
Derivatives
ˈhare-brainedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > madness, extreme folly > [adverb]
hare-brainedlya1577
lunatically1873
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adverb] > rashly or recklessly
recklesslyeOE
abandonc1330
rabbishlya1387
recklessa1450
savagelyc1450
temerarilyc1450
temerously1461
rashly?1518
temerariously1535
improvisedlya1538
hare-brainedlya1577
rash1591
wretchlessly?16..
over-rashly1609
bayardly1624
to run amok1689
harum-scarum1691
hell-bent1863
a1577 G. Gascoigne Fruite Fetters (R.) Fansie..farewell, whose badge..in my hat full harebrayndly, thy flowers did I weare.
ˈhare-brainedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > madness, extreme folly > [noun]
woodnessc1000
woodhead1303
madnessc1384
ragec1390
lunacya1592
idiotism1592
wittolry1592
midsummer madnessa1616
hare-brainedness1656
idiotry1757
insanity1840
meshugas1898
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness
recklessnessOE
resec1275
outragea1387
rechelesshipc1390
wantonnessc1390
hastivessa1393
recklesslaika1400
racklenessc1405
recklessheadc1410
headiness1447
temerity?a1475
lavishness1477
hastivitya1500
rashnessa1500
Ate1587
temerousness1598
temeritude1623
wretchlessness1625
hare-brainedness1656
rantum-scantum1695
temerariousness1711
blindness1796
devil-may-carishness1829
devil-may-careness1834
devil-may-care1836
rattle-brain1838
devil-may-careism1841
bullheadedness1858
harum-scarumness1863
madcappery1905
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > scatterbrained quality
hare-brainedness1656
scattiness1959
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Cerebrosity Brainsickness, hairbrainedness.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Ep. Ded. sig. c2 Profane, and giddy hairbrainedness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1548