Adjacent Words

Lunatic definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LU'NATIC, a. Affected by a species of madness, supposed to be influenced by the moon.
LU'NATIC, n. A person affected by insanity, supposed to be influenced or produced by the moon, or by its position in its orbit; a madman.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon [syn: lunatic, moonstruck] n
1: an insane person [syn: lunatic, madman, maniac]
2: a reckless impetuous irresponsible person [syn: daredevil, madcap, hothead, swashbuckler, lunatic, harum- scarum]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English lunatik, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French lunatic, from Late Latin lunaticus, from Latin luna; from the belief that lunacy fluctuated with the phases of the moon Date: 14th century 1. a. affected with lunacy ; insane b. designed for the care of insane persons <lunatic asylum> 2. wildly foolish <a lunatic idea> • lunatic noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 an insane person. 2 someone foolish or eccentric. --adj. mad, foolish. Phrases and idioms: lunatic asylum hist. a mental home or hospital. lunatic fringe an extreme or eccentric minority group. Etymology: ME f. OF lunatique f. LL lunaticus f. L luna moon

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lunatic Lu"na*tic, n. A person affected by lunacy; an insane person, esp. one who has lucid intervals; a madman; a person of unsound mind. The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, Are of imagination all compact. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lunatic Lu"na*tic, a. [F. lunatique, L. lunaticus, fr. luna the moon. See Lunar.] 1. Affected by lunacy; insane; mad. Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic. --Wyclif (Matt. xvii. 15). 2. Of or pertaining to, or suitable for, an insane person; evincing lunacy; as, lunatic gibberish; a lunatic asylum.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lunatics) 1. If you describe someone as a lunatic, you think they behave in a dangerous, stupid, or annoying way. (INFORMAL) Her son thinks she's an absolute raving lunatic. N-COUNT [disapproval] 2. If you describe someone's behaviour or ideas as lunatic, you think they are very foolish and possibly dangerous. ...the operation of the market taken to lunatic extremes. ...a country spurned until now by all except the more lunatic of journalists and adventurers. = mad, insane ADJ [disapproval] 3. If you describe a place or situation as lunatic, you mean that it is confused and seems out of control. He pleads for sanity in a lunatic world. ADJ: ADJ n 4. People who were mentally ill used to be called lunatics. (OLD-FASHIONED) N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

probably the same as epileptic, the symptoms of which disease were supposed to be more aggravated as the moon increased. In Matt. 4:24 "lunatics" are distinguished from demoniacs. In 17:15 the name "lunatic" is applied to one who is declared to have been possessed. (See DAEMONIAC.)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Insane, mad, deranged, crazy. II. n. Madman, maniac, insane person, crack.

Moby Thesaurus

abnormal, absurd, aliene, ass, balmy, batty, bedlamite, bereft of reason, borderline case, born fool, brainsick, buffoon, clown, crackbrain, crackbrained, cracked, crackpot, crank, crazed, crazy, cuckoo, daft, deluded, dement, demented, demoniac, deprived of reason, deranged, ding-a-ling, disoriented, distraught, doodle, egregious ass, energumen, fanatic, fantastic, figure of fun, flake, flighty, fool, fou, hallucinated, harebrain, idiot, ignoramus, insane, irrational, jackass, kook, loco, loon, loony, mad, maddened, madman, maniac, manic, mazed, mental, mentally deficient, meshuggah, meshuggenah, milksop, moon-struck, mooncalf, neuropath, neurotic, non compos, non compos mentis, noncompos, not all there, not right, nut, odd, of unsound mind, off, paranoid, perfect fool, phrenetic, potty, preposterous, psycho, psychoneurotic, queer, raver, raving lunatic, reasonless, schmuck, screwball, senseless, sick, softhead, sop, stark-mad, stark-staring mad, strange, stupid ass, tetched, tomfool, touched, unbalanced, unhinged, unsane, unsettled, unsound, wacky, wandering, weirdo, witless, zany