lunaticadj.n.
/ˈluːnətɪk/, /ˈljuːnətɪk/, U.S. /ˈlunəˌtɪk/ A. adj.† 2.
1.
a. Originally, affected with the kind of insanity that was supposed to have recurring periods dependent on the changes of the moon. In modern use, synonymous with insane adj.; current in popular and legal language, but not now employed technically by physicians.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with
woodc725
woodsekc890
giddyc1000
out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000
witlessc1000
brainsickOE
amadc1225
lunaticc1290
madc1330
sickc1340
brain-wooda1375
out of one's minda1387
frenetica1398
fonda1400
formada1400
unwisea1400
brainc1400
unwholec1400
alienate?a1425
brainless1434
distract of one's wits1470
madfula1475
furious1475
distract1481
fro oneself1483
beside oneself1490
beside one's patience1490
dementa1500
red-wood?1507
extraught1509
misminded1509
peevish1523
bedlam-ripe1525
straughta1529
fanatic1533
bedlama1535
daft1540
unsounda1547
stark raving (also staring) mad1548
distraughted1572
insane1575
acrazeda1577
past oneself1576
frenzy1577
poll-mad1577
out of one's senses1580
maddeda1586
frenetical1588
distempered1593
distraught1597
crazed1599
diswitted1599
idle-headed1599
lymphatical1603
extract1608
madling1608
distracteda1616
informala1616
far gone1616
crazy1617
March mada1625
non compos mentis1628
brain-crazed1632
demented1632
crack-brained1634
arreptitiousa1641
dementate1640
dementated1650
brain-crackeda1652
insaniated1652
exsensed1654
bedlam-witteda1657
lymphatic1656
mad-like1679
dementative1685
non compos1699
beside one's gravity1716
hyte1720
lymphated1727
out of one's head1733
maddened1735
swivel-eyed1758
wrong1765
brainsickly1770
fatuous1773
derangedc1790
alienated1793
shake-brained1793
crack-headed1796
flighty1802
wowf1802
doitrified1808
phrenesiac1814
bedlamite1815
mad-braineda1822
fey1823
bedlamitish1824
skire1825
beside one's wits1827
as mad as a hatter1829
crazied1842
off one's head1842
bemadded1850
loco1852
off one's nut1858
off his chump1864
unsane1867
meshuga1868
non-sane1868
loony1872
bee-headed1879
off one's onion1881
off one's base1882
(to go) off one's dot1883
locoed1885
screwy1887
off one's rocker1890
balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891
meshuggener1892
nutty1892
buggy1893
bughouse1894
off one's pannikin1894
ratty1895
off one's trolley1896
batchy1898
twisted1900
batsc1901
batty1903
dippy1903
bugs1904
dingy1904
up the (also a) pole1904
nut1906
nuts1908
nutty as a fruitcake1911
bugged1920
potty1920
cuckoo1923
nutsy1923
puggled1923
blah1924
détraqué1925
doolally1925
off one's rocket1925
puggle1925
mental1927
phooey1927
crackers1928
squirrelly1928
over the edge1929
round the bend1929
lakes1934
ding-a-ling1935
wacky1935
screwball1936
dingbats1937
Asiatic1938
parlatic1941
troppo1941
up the creek1941
screwed-up1943
bonkers1945
psychological1952
out to lunch1955
starkers1956
off (one's) squiff1960
round the twist1960
yampy1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
out of one's skull1967
whacked out1969
batshit1971
woo-woo1971
nutso1973
out of (one's) gourd1977
wacko1977
off one's meds1986
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > lunatic
lunaticc1290
mooneda1557
moonsick1562
moonburnt1568
moonstruck1674
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 369/99 He hadde ane douȝter þat was lunatyke.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 107 Þe whiche aren lunatik lollers and leperes a-boute, And mad as þe mone sitt.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. xcv. 878 It is yseyde þat he [sc. Topazius]..helpeþ aȝenst þe passioun lunatik.
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) vii. ii. 165 b He was..euery moneth once Lunaticke.
1564 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. lviii. 197 All this trouble..was when you were lunatike and not your owne man.
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. F4v (stage direct.) She runnes lunatick.
1600 tr. T. Garzoni Hosp. Incurable Fooles 77 If the moone be euill placed, either it maketh men extatical, lunatick, or subiect to the kings euill.
1604 S. Grahame Passionate Sparke sig. E4v The greatest Foole is wise if he be rich, And wisedome flowes from his Lunatique brayne.
1640 J. Yorke Union of Honour 110 This Alice fell lunaticke, and was divorced from the said Gilbert.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. vii, in Hist. Wks. (1813) I. 548 The presumptive heir to the throne was lunatic.
1885 Sat. Rev. 18 July 80/1 One of the most distinctive marks of the lunatic mind is that it reasons sanely from insane premises.
1889 Spectator 21 Dec. 881/1 The House of Castile, which, after fighting and reigning for nearly eight hundred years, terminated in a lunatic girl.
b. Of things: indicating lunacy; crazy.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mentally ill person > [adjective] > characteristic of
brainsick1571
maddish1573
lunatic1608
madly1816
nuttish1923
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 15 Bedlam beggers, who with roring voyces..Sometime with lunaticke bans, sometime with prayers Enforce their charitie. View more context for this quotation
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. iii. 6 in Wks. II A notable hypocriticall vermine it is..of a most lunatique conscience, and splene.
1861 Bushnell Char. Jesus 48 There have been great enthusiasts in the world, and they have shown their infirmity by lunatic airs, appropriate to their extravagance.
c. figurative. Madly foolish, frantic, idiotic, ‘mad’.
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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
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (iv. 5) If lunatik rashnesse have caryed any into sinne.
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. I4 Greefe makes me lunatick.
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore iv. iv. 104 I am sicke Of that disease, all loue is lunaticke.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion To Rdr. sig. A Nothing [is] esteem'd in this lunatique Age, but what is kept in Cabinets.
1857 ‘G. Eliot’ in Westm. Rev. Jan. 8 The seventh [Satire]..contains nothing in particular except lunatic flattery of George the First.
1859 Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 155 805 No policy can be more lunatic than the policy of annexation.
a. Influenced by the moon. Obsolete.
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the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > [adjective] > influenced by
lunaticc1430
lunar1626
sublunar1959
c1430 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 6177 Ther [sc. women's] hertys chaunge never..Ther sect ys no thing lunatyke.
a1592 R. Greene Mamillia (1593) ii. sig. D3v By natiuitie they be lunatikes, not taking this worde as the English men do, for starke mad, but as borne vnder the influence of Luna, and therfore as firme..as the melting waxe.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 14 I that was borne to suppresse & treade down sinne vnder foote, in the night time, (when that sinne-inhabited element is wont to be most lunaticke) walke on the crests of the surges as on the dry land.
b. Farriery. Affected with moonblindness; moon-blind, moon-eyed. Obsolete.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [adjective] > disorders of eyes
varon1451
lunatic1566
walled1577
wall-eyed1590
moon-eyed1610
moon-blind1689
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. f. 24v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of Lunatike eyes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 124 The broken wineded, the lunaticke, and the manginesse, called the farcine.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice Table sig. A2v Lunatike eyes or moone eies.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xvi. 232 In Lunatick or Moon-blind Horses.
B. n.
a. A lunatic person; a person of unsound mind; a madman.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mentally ill person > [noun] > mad person
woodman1297
madmanc1330
lunatic1377
franticc1380
madwomana1438
March harec1500
Bedlam beggar1525
fanaticc1525
bedlama1529
frenetic1528
Jack o' Bedlam1528
Tom o' Bedlam1569
crack-brain1570
madbrain1570
Tom1575
madcap1589
gelt1596
madhead1600
brainsick1605
madpash1611
non compos1628
madling1638
bedlam-man1658
bedlamerc1675
fan1682
bedlamite1691
cracka1701
lymphatic1708
shatter-brain1719
mad1729
maniaca1763
non compos mentis1765
shatter-pate1775
shatter-wit1775
insane1786
craze1831
dement1857
crazy1867
crackpot1883
loony1884
bug1885
psychopath1885
dingbat1887
psychopathic1890
ding-a-ling1899
meshuggener1900
détraqué1902
maddiea1903
nut1908
mental1913
ding1929
lakes1934
wack1938
fruitcake1942
nutty1942
barm-pot1951
nutcake1953
nutter1958
nutcase1959
nut job1959
meshuga1962
nutsy1964
headcase1965
nutball1968
headbanger1973
nutso1975
wacko1977
nut bar1978
mentalist1990
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 123 Thanne loked vp a lunatik, a lene thing with-alle.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. II. 23 Lunatikes ben sich men þat han cours of þer siikenesse bi movyng of þe moone.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 7 The lunatick, The louer, and the Poet are of imagination all compact. View more context for this quotation
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 247 a A Lunatique that hath sometime his vnderstanding and sometime not.
1735 Motte in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 107 An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.
1742 Act 15 Geo. II c. 30 Whereas Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may..be liable to be surprised into unsuitable Marriages.
1757 T. Smollett Reprisal i. viii An English lunatic at full moon, is a very sober animal when compared to a Frenchman in a passion.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) I. 315 An infant, a person of nonsane memory, an idiot, a lunatic,..may also be grantees of a copyhold.
1828 A. Halliday Pres. State Lunatics 30 In Perthshire, the idiots are two hundred and eight, the lunatics only one hundred and fifty-nine.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 113/1 Insane persons (although not lunatics so found by inquisition) may be placed under personal restraint.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 9 Apr. 808/2 A desperate encounter recently took place..between a lunatic who had escaped from Hatton Asylum and two keepers who were sent in pursuit.
b. figurative. A madly foolish person.
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the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > idiot, crazy person
Jack foolc1405
drivel1478
idiotc1480
nidiot1533
hare-brain1542
hare-copa1566
nidget1579
lunatic1602
flight-head1605
moonling1631
driveller1682
tomfool1683
niddy-noddy1722
imbecile1781
puggle1783
gype1825
eejit1853
nowmun1854
dinlo1873
loon1885
ratbag1890
doughbakea1895
ding-a-ling1899
feeb1914
dingbat1915
bodoh1922
diddy1933
Nimrod1933
pranny1949
momo1953
head-the-ball1958
flake1968
fuckwit1969
tattie-bogle1969
div1975
tube1975
wazzock1976
gonzo1977
motorhead1979
prannet1979
twonk1981
dough ball1983
numpty1985
divvy1987
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus ii. iii. 665 She may be thy Luna, and thou her Lunaticke.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 4 Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute, and conquer, if I would.
1884 Christian World 4 Sept. 667/1 Any man telling the farmers of Ireland not to pay their rents would be a lunatic.
Compounds
C1. attributive.
ΚΠ
1828 Sir A. Halliday 31 Dumfries has a small lunatic establishment, attached to the County Infirmary.
1885 Times 4 Aug. 9/4 A page from the lunatic entry book had been surreptitiously removed.
C2.
lunatic asylum n. = lunatic house n.
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the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill
bedlam-house1525
dull-house1622
madhouse1649
bedlam1663
lunatic hospital1762
asylum1776
retreat1796
lunatic house1813
lunatic asylum1828
maison de santé1843
idiot asylum1848
rat house1854
bughouse1887
Colney Hatch1891
booby hatch1896
mental hospital1898
booby house1900
nut factory1900
nut collegec1906
nuthouse1906
monkey house1910
booby-hutch1914
nuttery1915
loony bin1919
nut hatch1928
silly house1930
bin1938
snake-pit1947
funny farm1950
1828 Sir A. Halliday (title) A General View of the Present State of Lunatics, and Lunatic Asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland.
lunatic fringe n. a minority group of adherents to a political or other movement or set of beliefs; also attributive.
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society > society and the community > social relations > party or faction > [noun] > a factionary or partisan > body of > minority
lunatic fringe1913
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun] > minority group
lunatic fringe1913
Wee Frees1953
1913 T. Roosevelt Hist. as Lit. 305 There is apt to be a lunatic fringe among the votaries of any forward movement.
1936 Economist 4 Jan. 3/1 Dr. Townsend has now left all his rivals behind in competition for the votes of the lunatic fringe.
1945 ‘G. Orwell’ in Polemic i. 41 The lunatic fringe has even contrived to be simultaneously pro-Russian and pro-Nazi.
1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris (U.K. ed.) iii. 59 Most of the paintings are imitations of other paintings, either conscious or unconscious, ranging from primitives and false primitives to the latest lunatic fringe.
1953 Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 May 15/4 Five [letters]..refer to his ‘plug-ugly tactics’, the ‘lunatic fringe’ brand of anti-communism.
1958 Times 9 Sept. 9/3 The lunatic fringe of society, to which only too many irresponsible hoaxers here and in America belong, finds the telephone its best friend.
1968 Guardian 12 Dec. 9/1 Lunatic-fringe Utopians call for something entirely new.
1969 Observer 23 Nov. 25/3 Views like these, as anyone who has listened to a few conversations on the verandahs of suburban Kingston will recognise, aren't lunatic fringe.
1970 Observer 11 Oct. 32/3 Both sides..have what you might call lunatic fringes; on the middle-aged right there are those who would lynch anyone with long hair, on the young left..there are those who refuse to state their case rationally.
1973 D. Ramsay Deadly Discretion 175 Antique shops were magnets for the lunatic fringe.
lunatic hospital n. = lunatic house n.
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the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill
bedlam-house1525
dull-house1622
madhouse1649
bedlam1663
lunatic hospital1762
asylum1776
retreat1796
lunatic house1813
lunatic asylum1828
maison de santé1843
idiot asylum1848
rat house1854
bughouse1887
Colney Hatch1891
booby hatch1896
mental hospital1898
booby house1900
nut factory1900
nut collegec1906
nuthouse1906
monkey house1910
booby-hutch1914
nuttery1915
loony bin1919
nut hatch1928
silly house1930
bin1938
snake-pit1947
funny farm1950
1762 J. Wesley Jrnl. 21 Dec. (1827) III. 120 I doubt this is not the case of any other lunatic hospital.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Apr. 736/1 That the registered lunatic hospitals should not be subjected to special restrictions and disabilities.
†lunatic house n. a hospital established for the reception and treatment of lunatics.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill
bedlam-house1525
dull-house1622
madhouse1649
bedlam1663
lunatic hospital1762
asylum1776
retreat1796
lunatic house1813
lunatic asylum1828
maison de santé1843
idiot asylum1848
rat house1854
bughouse1887
Colney Hatch1891
booby hatch1896
mental hospital1898
booby house1900
nut factory1900
nut collegec1906
nuthouse1906
monkey house1910
booby-hutch1914
nuttery1915
loony bin1919
nut hatch1928
silly house1930
bin1938
snake-pit1947
funny farm1950
1813 R. Powell in Med. Trans. (Royal Coll. of Physicians) 4 139 The proportion of patients returned as having been received into lunatic houses.
lunatic soup n. Australian and New Zealand slang alcoholic drink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun]
drink1042
liquor1340
bousea1350
cidera1382
dwale1393
sicera1400
barrelc1400
strong drinkc1405
watera1475
swig1548
tipple1581
amber1598
tickle-brain1598
malt pie1599
swill1602
spicket1615
lap1618
John Barleycornc1625
pottle1632
upsy Englisha1640
upsy Friese1648
tipplage1653
heartsease1668
fuddle1680
rosin1691
tea1693
suck1699
guzzlea1704
alcohol1742
the right stuff1748
intoxicant1757
lush1790
tear-brain1796
demon1799
rum1799
poison1805
fogram1808
swizzle1813
gatter1818
wine(s) and spirit(s)1819
mother's milkc1821
skink1823
alcoholics1832
jough1834
alky1844
waipiro1845
medicine1847
stimulant1848
booze1859
tiddly1859
neck oil1860
lotion1864
shrab1867
nose paint1880
fixing1882
wet1894
rabbit1895
shicker1900
jollop1920
mule1920
giggle-water1929
rookus juice1929
River Ouse1931
juice1932
lunatic soup1933
wallop1933
skimish1936
sauce1940
turps1945
grog1946
joy juice1960
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 42/1 Lunatic soup, as the few fellows about who knew him as Darkie called the brandy he drank.
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 45 Lunatic soup, cheap red wine.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.c1290