demented

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   wildly irrational, disturbed, or out of control

   A demented laugh echoed through the empty corridor.

2. 2
   adj

   having dementia; now often avoided as a dated and potentially offensive description of a person

   The historical report repeatedly described patients with severe dementia as demented.

3. 3
   adj

   extremely foolish, absurd, or frantic, especially in informal use

   It was a demented plan, but somehow it worked.

The past participle of dement, from French dementer and ultimately Latin demens, "out of one's mind," formed from de- + mens, "mind." The adjective developed both a medical sense associated with dementia and broader figurative senses for irrational or frantic behavior.

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