Etymologically
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crazy

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkreɪ.zi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English craze + -y,[2][3][4][5] and the verb craze originally meant “to break in pieces, shatter”, so a crazy person has had their sanity shattered.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Diseased, sickly”: 1576[7] or the 1570s,[2] a sense now obsolete.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the adjective to 1566.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

“Full of cracks or flaws, broken, unsound” is from 1583[7] or the 1580s.[2] “Frail, infirm” is from 1601, and “ruined, bankrupt” from 1700.[7] “Of unsound mind, mad” is from 1617[7] or the 1610s,[2] often used as an exaggeration.[7] Crazy bone, for the funny bone, is from 1853,[2] and crazy quilt from 1886 keeps the old sense “broken in pieces”.[2] The noun, a mad or eccentric person, is from 1867,[7][8] and the adverb, “extremely”, from 1887.[7] To drive someone crazy is by 1873, like crazy “with great energy” by 1905 in Etymonline[2] or 1924, originally American, in the OED.[7] The jazz-slang sense “cool, exciting” is by 1927,[2] and crazy like a fox by 1935.[2]

Timeline

  • 1576 – sickly.[7]
  • 1583 – full of cracks.[7]
  • 1617 – insane.[7]
  • 1853 – crazy bone.[2]
  • 1867 – noun, a mad person.[7]
  • 1886 – crazy quilt.[2]
  • 1887 – adverb, extremely.[7]
  • 1927 – jazz slang, exciting.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Mentally ill; insane.
  2. Foolish or impractical: a crazy idea.
  3. Very enthusiastic or infatuated: crazy about her.
  4. Wild or very excited.
  5. (archaic) Full of cracks; unsound or frail.

Noun

  1. (informal) A person who is or seems insane.

Adverb

  1. (informal) Extremely.

Word family

  • crazily
  • craziness
  • crazyweed
  • stir-crazy
  • crazy bone
  • crazy eights

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster