insanity

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ɪnˈsænɪti/ UK /ɪnˈsænɪti/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of being seriously mentally ill; extreme folly

It would be insanity to set out in this storm.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of being... madness lunacy derangement dementia mania folly

Opposites

sanity reason lucidity

Word family

Related forms insane sane sanity sanitary

Etymology

From Latin insanitas ('unsoundness of mind'), from insanus ('unsound, mad'), from in- ('not') + sanus ('healthy, sound').

in- Latin sanus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# insanity

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

## Meanings
1. the state of being seriously mentally ill; extreme folly

## Examples
- It would be insanity to set out in this storm.

## Synonyms
- madness
- lunacy
- derangement
- dementia
- mania
- folly

## Antonyms
- sanity
- reason
- lucidity

## Related Forms
- insane
- sane
- sanity
- sanitary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in-
- Root: sanus

## Etymology
From Latin insanitas ('unsoundness of mind'), from insanus ('unsound, mad'), from in- ('not') + sanus ('healthy, sound').

## AI Etymology
Insanity comes from Latin insanitas ('unsoundness of mind'), from insanus ('unsound, mad'), from in- ('not') + sanus ('healthy, sound'). The etymological trail includes Latin in- and Latin sanus. As a noun, insanity means the state of being seriously mentally ill; extreme folly. The same family is visible in related forms such as insane, sane, sanity, and sanitary. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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