maniac

• maniack (obsolete)

From mania +‎ -ac. Borrowed from French maniaque, from Late Latin maniacus, from Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós), adjectival form of μανία (manía, “madness”). Compare manic.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪniˌæk/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ma‧ni‧ac
• Rhymes: -eɪniæk

maniac (plural maniacs)

1. An insane person, especially one who suffers from a mania.

   She was driving like a maniac.

   • 2017 October 18, Seth Kubersky, “A weekend full of puppetry-themed entertainment is just the ticket, unless you’re pupaphobic”, in Orlando Weekly‎^[1]:

     Hey kids, the word of the week is "pupaphobia"! Others may enjoy being frightened by chainsaw-wielding maniacs and cannibal clowns, but my Halloween is never complete without a murderous Muppet or two. Thankfully, a pair of events last Friday the 13th provided a perfect double feature of puppet perversity.

   • 2017, J. C. Staudt, Children of the Wastes:

     “It gives me the dithers, thinking of the damage that maniac could do if he ever took the headship. He could reinstate the cycle of chosen births, or enact any of a hundred other terrible laws.”

2. (figurative) A fanatic, a person with an obsession.

   He's a manga maniac.

   • 1983, Michael Sembello, Dennis Matkosky, “Maniac”:

     She's a maniac, maniac on the floor / And she's dancing like she's never danced before

3. (Philippines) Ellipsis of sex maniac.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:maniac.

• madling

• -maniac
• mania
• maniacal

• → Cebuano: manyak, manyakis
• → Malay: maniak
• → Tagalog: manyak, manyakis

• Mancia, caiman, mancia

Borrowed from French maniaque. By surface analysis, manie +‎ -ac.

maniac m or n (feminine singular maniacă, masculine plural maniaci, feminine and neuter plural maniace)

1. maniacal