craze

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /kreɪz/ UK /kreɪz/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a short-lived enthusiasm or fad; to make insane

The dance craze swept across the country in weeks.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short-lived enthusiasm or... fad rage vogue mania fashion trend obsession

Word family

Derived forms crazed

Related forms crazy craziness

Etymology

From Middle English 'crasen' ('to shatter, crack'), probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Old Norse '*krasa', 'to crush'); the sense 'mental cracking' yielded both 'make insane' and the figurative 'fad'.

crasen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# craze

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kreɪz/
**IPA (UK):** /kreɪz/

## Meanings
1. a short-lived enthusiasm or fad; to make insane

## Examples
- The dance craze swept across the country in weeks.

## Synonyms
- fad
- rage
- vogue
- mania
- fashion
- trend
- obsession

## Derived Forms
- crazed

## Related Forms
- crazy
- craziness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crasen

## Etymology
From Middle English 'crasen' ('to shatter, crack'), probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Old Norse '*krasa', 'to crush'); the sense 'mental cracking' yielded both 'make insane' and the figurative 'fad'.

## AI Etymology
Craze is from Middle English 'crasen' ('to shatter, crack'), probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Old Norse '*krasa', 'to crush'); the sense 'mental cracking' yielded both 'make insane' and the figurative 'fad'. Important recorded forms include crasen (Middle English). Its deeper history remains uncertain, with proposed links left as possibilities rather than a single settled derivation. The current sense covers a short-lived enthusiasm or fad; to make insane. The wider family includes derived forms such as crazed and related words such as crazy and craziness.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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