insane

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪnˈseɪn/ See IPA manual

Freq #1755

Meanings

1

adj
Seriously mentally ill.

The man was declared legally insane.
2

adj
Extremely foolish or unreasonable.

Driving in this storm would be insane.
3

adj
Extremely good or impressive.

That guitar solo was absolutely insane.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · extremely foolish or... mad

More apeshitbananas barking barmybat-shitbatchybatcrapbatpoopbats batshit battybonkers

Opposites

sane sober

Word family

Forms insanelyinsanerinsanest

Derived forms insanelyinsanenessinsaneryinsaniacinsanifynoninsane

Related forms becrazeinsanity rave stupid wild

Simplified etymology

Insane, recorded from the mid-16th century, belongs with sane and sanity to the word family rooted in Latin sanus, meaning “healthy.” The current senses associated with sane and sanity are recorded from the early 17th century.

Etymology

From Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- + sane.

īnsānus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# insane

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈseɪn/
**Frequency rank:** 1755

## Meanings
1. Seriously mentally ill.
2. Extremely foolish or unreasonable.
3. Extremely good or impressive.

## Examples
- The man was declared legally insane.
- Driving in this storm would be insane.
- That guitar solo was absolutely insane.

## Synonyms
- apeshit
- bananas
- barking
- barmy
- bat-shit
- batchy
- batcrap
- batpoop
- bats
- batshit
- batty
- bonkers

## Antonyms
- sane
- sober

## Derived Forms
- insanely
- insaneness
- insanery
- insaniac
- insanify
- noninsane

## Related Forms
- becraze
- insanity
- rave
- stupid
- wild

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: īnsānus

## Etymology
From Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- + sane.

## AI Etymology
Insane comes from Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”), equivalent to in- + sane. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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