INDEX:
1. people
2. crazy things/ideas/situations
3. to start to feel crazy because you are extremely bored, worried, etc
4. to start to behave in a crazy and excited way
5. to make someone feel crazy
6. a crazy person
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ SENSIBLE
↑ CALM
someone who is mentally ill : ↑ MENTALLY ILL
see also
↑ ANGRY
↑ CARELESS
↑ STRANGE
↑ STUPID/SILLY
◆◆◆
1. people
▷ crazy /ˈkreɪzi/ [adjective]
someone who is crazy does things that are extremely strange or stupid :
▪ My dad told me I was crazy to leave my job.
▪ You agreed to marry him? Are you crazy?
▪ crazy drivers who cause accidents
▪ His friends thought he was crazy when he told them he was going to spend his entire vacation exploring a cave.
completely/totally crazy
▪ Put that gun down! Are you totally crazy?
crazy to do something
▪ You’re crazy to lend him all that money - you’ll never get it back.
▷ be nuts also be crackers British /biː ˈnʌts, biː ˈkrækəʳz/ spoken informal
to be crazy :
▪ People will think you’re crackers if you go around talking to yourself like that.
▪ The guy’s completely nuts! He goes around in nothing but a pair of shorts in the middle of winter.
▷ mad/barmy /mæd, ˈbɑːʳmi/ [adjective] British spoken
crazy :
▪ You spent $190 on a pair of shoes? You must be mad!
completely mad/barmy
▪ Monica’s new boyfriend is completely barmy. He calls her almost every day from Australia.
mad/barmy to do something
▪ She’s mad to turn down an offer like that.
▪ I must have been mad to let myself become involved with someone like Dennis.
▷ be insane/be out of your mind /biː ɪnˈseɪn, biː ˌaʊt əv jɔːʳ ˈmaɪnd/ [verb phrase] especially spoken
you say someone is insane or out of their mind if they do something or intend to do something that is completely crazy :
▪ Anyone who would take a boat out in this weather must be insane.
▪ Tell the police? Are you out of your mind?
▷ need your head examined/have taken leave of your senses /ˌniːd jɔːʳ ˈhed ɪgˌzæmə̇nd, həv teɪkən ˌliːv əv jɔːʳ ˈsensə̇z/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
say this when you think someone is crazy because they have done something that you do not approve of or agree with :
▪ A man who would give his fourteen-year-old son a motorcycle has obviously taken leave of his senses.
▪ If you ask me, anyone who believes in UFOs needs their head examined.
▷ nutty informal also dotty/batty /ˈnʌti, ˈdɒti‖ˈdɑː- ˈbæti/ [adjective] British informal
crazy - use this to describe someone, especially an old person, who behaves in a slightly strange but often amusing way :
▪ Grandma can act kind of nutty at times.
▪ My uncle frequently wore shoes which didn’t match, and everyone thought he was a bit dotty.
▪ Next door to us lived a batty old lady who used to have long conversations with her plants.
▷ be out to lunch/be out of your tree /biː ˌaʊt tə ˈlʌntʃ, biː ˌaʊt əv jɔːʳ ˈtriː/ [verb phrase] informal
someone who is out to lunch or out of their tree behaves in a strange, confused way and does not seem to know what is happening around them :
▪ Our English teacher’s really out to lunch -- the class started five weeks ago and she hasn’t even asked our names yet.
▪ He is quoted as saying privately that he thinks the former prime minister is ‘out of her tree’.
▷ flaky /ˈfleɪki/ [adjective] especially American, informal
someone who seems unable to think clearly or do what they should do, and behaves in a strange but often amusing way :
▪ Christy was kind of flaky, but everyone liked her.
▪ You couldn’t trust Sam to do anything important. He was too flaky.
▷ be one sandwich short of a picnic also be a couple of cans short of a six-pack/be a few clowns short of a circus etc /biː wʌn ˌsænwɪdʒ ʃɔːʳt əv ə ˈpɪknɪk, biː ə ˌkʌp ə l əv ˌkænz ʃɔːʳt əv ə ˈsɪks pæk, biː ə fjuː ˌklaʊnz ʃɔːʳt əv ə ˈsɜːʳkəs/
strange and slightly crazy :
▪ I always thought Toby was one sandwich short of a picnic. Do you remember how he would sometimes work naked in the garden?
▪ Come on. Let’s face it - nobody trusts the guy because he’s at least one clown short of a circus.
▷ have a screw loose /hæv ə ˈskruː ˌluːs/ [verb phrase] informal
slightly crazy, often in an amusing way :
▪ ‘Fernando can be really weird sometimes.’ ‘Yeah, he’s got a screw loose, no question.’
2. crazy things/ideas/situations
▷ crazy also mad British /ˈkreɪzi, mæd/ [adjective] especially spoken
ideas, actions, or situations that are crazy or mad are not at all sensible and are likely to cause problems or danger :
▪ Jade wants to build a swimming pool in the garden, which I think is a mad idea.
▪ You see drivers do some crazy things.
it’s/that’s crazy
▪ It’s crazy to have an expensive, elaborate judicial system handling parking tickets and minor traffic violations.
▪ The farmers get more money from the government if they don’t plant crops, and I think that’s just crazy.
▷ screwy /ˈskruːi/ [adjective] especially American, spoken
crazy and making no sense, especially in an amusing way :
▪ She has these screwy theories about how crystals can cure all kinds of illnesses.
▪ Warren Brigs, president of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, calls the proposal a ‘screwy idea’.
▷ insane /ɪnˈseɪn/ [adjective]
something that is insane is completely crazy, because it cannot possibly succeed or is very dangerous :
▪ For some insane reason he decided to do the whole journey in one day.
it is insane to do something
▪ It would be insane to try to go camping in this kind of weather.
▷ madness/lunacy /ˈmædnɪs, ˈmædnəs, ˈluːnəsi/ [uncountable noun]
behaviour that it is completely crazy :
▪ Coppola’s film shows the madness of war.
it’s madness/lunacy
▪ They can’t build a motorway through all that beautiful parkland -- it’s madness!
it is madness/lunacy to do something
▪ It is madness for a country to spend that much on its military.
3. to start to feel crazy because you are extremely bored, worried, etc
▷ go crazy/go nuts/go mad also go mad British /ˌgəʊ ˈkreɪzi, ˌgəʊ ˈnʌts, ˌgəʊ ˈmæd/ [verb phrase] informal
to start feeling as if you are crazy, especially when you are in a very unpleasant or very boring situation :
▪ I wouldn’t last a month in a desk job. I’d just go crazy.
▪ I’d go nuts if I had to get up that early every morning.
▪ If the neighbors don’t turn down that music, I’m going to go mad.
▷ go out of your mind/lose your mind /gəʊ ˌaʊt əv jɔːʳ ˈmaɪnd, ˌluːz jɔːʳ ˈmaɪnd/ [verb phrase]
to become unable to think clearly or sensibly, especially because you are extremely bored or worried :
▪ If I have to wait in one more line, I’m going to go out of my mind.
▪ I’m with the kids all day, and I feel like I’m losing my mind.
▷ go round the bend British /go around the bend American /gəʊ ˌraʊnd ðə ˈbend, gəʊ əˌraʊnd ðə ˈbend/ [verb phrase] informal
to start feeling as if you are crazy, for example because you have so much work to do, you are extremely worried about something, or you hate the situation you are in so much :
▪ I had such a heavy workload last semester that I almost went round the bend.
▪ We hadn’t heard from our daughter in days, and we were practically going round the bend.
4. to start to behave in a crazy and excited way
▷ go crazy/go nuts/go mad also go mad British /ˌgəʊ ˈkreɪzi, ˌgəʊ ˈnʌts, ˌgəʊ ˈmæd/ [verb phrase]
to start behaving in a crazy, uncontrolled way, especially when you are very excited :
▪ The fans went crazy when the band came onto the stage.
▪ During Carnival the entire city goes crazy for a week.
▪ As soon as the dog hears anyone at the door he goes completely nuts.
▪ When Italy scored the winning goal the crowd went mad.
▷ go berserk /ˌgəʊ bɜːʳˈsɜːʳk/ [verb phrase]
to suddenly start behaving in an extremely wild, violent, and often frightening way :
▪ When they tried to arrest him, he suddenly went berserk.
▪ She went berserk and began shouting at everybody on the platform.
5. to make someone feel crazy
▷ drive somebody crazy/nuts/mad/insane /ˌdraɪv somebody ˈkreɪzi, ˈnʌts, ˈmæd, ɪnˈseɪn/ [verb phrase]
to make someone feel crazy or behave in a crazy way :
▪ I’ve just got to get another job -- this one’s driving me nuts.
▪ I can’t wait to get my exam results. All this waiting is driving me insane.
▪ I hate doing crossword puzzles -- they drive me mad.
▪ Those kids are enough to drive anyone crazy. I’ll be glad when they go back to school.
▷ drive somebody round the bend/twist /ˌdraɪv somebody ˌraʊnd ðə ˈbend, ˈtwɪst/ [verb phrase] especially British, informal
if something such as a lot of work, worry, or doing something you hate drives you round the bend or drives you round the twist, it makes you feel completely crazy :
▪ I have so much to do at the moment. It’s driving me round the twist.
▪ She was really glad when she gave up teaching. It was driving her right round the bend.
▷ drive somebody up the wall /ˌdraɪv somebody ʌp ðə ˈwɔːl/ [verb phrase]
to make someone feel crazy, especially by repeatedly doing something annoying :
▪ Can you turn down that TV? It’s driving me up the wall!
▪ I love my husband, but he’s driving me up the wall.
6. a crazy person
▷ nut /nʌt/ [countable noun]
▪ A lot of people think he’s a complete nut, but he’s actually quite harmless.
▪ The woman sounds like a real nut.
somebody is some kind/type of nut
▪ He started asking me a lot of questions about my personal life. I think the guy’s some kind of nut.
▷ nutcase/loony /ˈnʌtkeɪs, ˈluːni/ [countable noun]
someone who behaves in a crazy and often amusing way and who has strange ideas :
▪ Our old maths teacher was a real nutcase -- he used to eat chalk because he said it was good for your bones.
a bunch of loonies
▪ In the 1960s, people thought that vegetarians were a bunch of loonies.
▷ maniac/lunatic /ˈmeɪniæk, ˈluːnətɪk/ [countable noun] especially spoken
someone who behaves in a stupidly dangerous way :
▪ Ken drives like a maniac.
▪ Some lunatic threw a can of lighter fluid on the fire.
▷ nutter /ˈnʌtəʳ/ [countable noun] British informal
someone who has strange ideas or who behaves in a strange and often frightening way :
▪ Sometimes you get these nutters calling you at 3 o'clock in the morning.
▪ Burns can be a nutter - especially when he’s had a few drinks.
complete nutter
▪ He’s a complete nutter. He’s got no sense whatsoever.