insanity
insanity Lexical Profile
insanity Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Extreme foolishness, irrationality, or a wildly reckless action or policy.
"Attempting to cross the mountain pass during a severe blizzard would be sheer insanity."
The state of being seriously mentally ill or of unsound mind; specifically, in law, a degree of mental impairment that prevents a person from distinguishing right from wrong and absolves them of legal responsibility.
"The defense attorney entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on behalf of the defendant."
A state of extreme chaos, frenzied activity, or overwhelming disorder.
"The holiday shopping rush at the downtown mall quickly descended into total insanity."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern clinical psychiatry and medicine, 'insanity' is considered an outdated and imprecise term, though it remains a standard, well-defined concept in criminal and civil law to denote a lack of legal responsibility due to severe mental illness.
• Rhymes for insanity
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from Latin insanitas ('unhealthiness of mind'), derived from insanus ('unsound, mad'), which combines the privative prefix in- ('not') with sanus ('healthy, sound').