insane

From Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- +‎ sane.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈseɪn/

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• Rhymes: -eɪn

insane (comparative more insane or insaner, superlative most insane or insanest)

1. Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insane

   • 1933, Dale Carnegie, “Part 1, Chapter 2. THE BIG SECRET OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 41:

     What is the cause of insanity? Nobody can answer such a sweeping question as that, but we know that certain diseases, such as syphilis, break down and destroy the brain cells and result in insanity. In fact, about one-half of all mental diseases can be attributed to such physical causes as brain lesions, alcohol, toxins, and injuries. But the other half—and this is the appalling part of the story—the other half of the people who go insane apparently have nothing organically wrong with their brain cells. In post-mortem examinations, when their brain tissues are studied under the highest-powered microscopes, they are found to be apparently just as healthy as yours and mine. Why do these people go insane?

   • 1980 March 7, Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”, in Glass Houses‎^[1]:

     And you told me not to drive
     But I made it home alive
     So you said that only proves that I'm insane

2. Used by or relating to insane people.

   an insane hospital

   an insane asylum

3. Causing insanity or madness.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Were such things here, as we doe speake about? / Or haue we eaten on the insane Root, / That takes the Reason Prisoner?

4. (informal) Characterized by excess or the utmost folly; ridiculous; impractical.

   an insane plan

   an insane amount of money

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     The preposterous altruism too! […] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

   • 1998, Robert Storey, “South-West Taiwan”, in Taiwan (Lonely Planet)‎^[2], 4th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 292, column 2:

     Yenshui is a fairly ordinary town situated between Tainan and Chiayi. However, during the Lantern Festival, on the 15th day of the first moon, the whole town goes insane.

5. (slang) Extremely good; incredibly amazing.

   That guy is insane at FPS games.

   • 2018 August 8, Bill Graveland, “'I'll get better': Paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player working to improve at sledge hockey”, in CBC‎^[3]:

     Cederstrand was all over the ice, whipping his sled around and firing pucks into the net. It's what Straschnitzki is aiming for. "He's insane. The turns, the shots. It's something I want to do some day."

   • 2020 August 24, Nicol Natale, “Watch Reese Witherspoon Nail a Seriously Impressive Backflip in This Throwback Video”, in Prevention‎^[4]:

     And fans echoed their responses. "You nailed it, girl! This movie is so special. Your work is insane! 💗," one person wrote. "Is there ANYTHING you can't do?! I'm impressed," said another.

   • 2020 September 19, Saahil Agnelo Periwal, “Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: SypherPK claims a Victory Royale by using the 'rarest' item in the game- The Galactus Gun”, in Sportskeeda‎^[5]:

     On getting two quick eliminations, SypherPK cries out ecstatically: This gun is insane, it's the best gun ever! Woohoo!

6. (informal) Enraged; furious.

• See Thesaurus:insane

• sane

• insanity

• → French: insane
• → German: insane

• “insane”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “insane”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “insane”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Annies, Sannie, Sienna, inanes, nenias, sannie, sienna

Borrowed from English insane.

• IPA^(key): /in.sɛjn/, /in.sɛn/, /ɛ̃.san/

insane (plural insanes)

1. insane, crazy
2. (modern usage, informal, figurative) crazy, unbelievable

• “insane”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from English insane. Doublet of insan.

insane (strong nominative masculine singular insaner, not comparable)

1. (colloquial, figurative) insane, crazy
   • 2023 June 15, Ole Schulz, “Nyege Nyege im Festsaal Kreuzberg: Vom Nil an die Spree”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[6], →ISSN:

     Wer am Samstag und Sonntag in den Festsaal Kreuzberg kommt, sollte darauf vorbereitet sein. Es werde „insane“ werden, frohlockt Astan KA. Wer das verpasst, ist selber schuld.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2025 July 19, Anna Fastabend, “Fixierung auf das große Geld: Milchgesichter, die von Millionen träumen”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[7], →ISSN:

     Das sei ihm egal, sagt der Qualmer. Es ginge bloß darum, so schnell wie möglich in eine Führungsposition zu kommen: „Allein das Einstiegsgehalt ist insane.“

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

insane f pl

1. feminine plural of insano

īnsāne

1. vocative masculine singular of īnsānus

• “insane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “insane”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• insane in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.