in·san·i·ty ( n-s n -t )n. pl. in·san·i·ties 1. Mental illness or derangement. No longer in scientific use. 2. Law a. Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility. b. In most criminal jurisdictions, a degree of mental malfunctioning sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act committed. 3. a. Extreme foolishness; folly. b. Something that is extremely foolish. Synonyms: insanity, lunacy, madness, mania, dementia These nouns denote conditions of serious mental disability. Insanity is a grave, often prolonged condition that prevents a person from being held legally responsible for his or her actions: was judged not guilty for reasons of insanity. Lunacy often denotes derangement relieved intermittently by periods of clear-mindedness: yelled wildly in a moment of utter lunacy. Madness often stresses the violent aspect of mental illness: a story about obsession and madness. Mania refers principally to the excited, or manic, phase of bipolar disorder: prescribed drugs to control the patient's periods of mania. Dementia implies mental deterioration brought on by an organic brain disorder: underwent progressive stages of dementia. |
insanity [ɪnˈsænɪtɪ]
n pl -ties
1. (Psychology) relatively permanent disorder of the mind; state or condition of being insane
2. (Law) Law a defect of reason as a result of mental illness, such that a defendant does not know what he or she is doing or that it is wrong
3. utter folly; stupidity
Insanity
Obsolete, insanity.
a violent form of mania; incurable insanity.
1. a congenital condition of low intelligence.
2. a form of temporary insanity. Cf. dementia.
2. a form of temporary insanity. Cf. dementia.
Obsolete, amentia.
behavior characteristic of insanity. See also order and disorder.
a mental patient.
one of various forms of schizophrenia characterized by stupor, sometimes alternating with excited behavior and mechanical, repetitive behavior, accompanied by muscular rigidity. — catatonic, n., adj.
a state of maniacal excitement characterized by restless behavior, confused speech, and sometimes hallucinations.
madness or insanity. Cf. amentia.
schizophrenia.
1. Obsolete, the doctrine of demoniac possession.
2. Archaic. demonomania. — demonian, n., adj.
2. Archaic. demonomania. — demonian, n., adj.
Medicine. a monomania in which a person believes he is possessed of devils. Also called demonopathy.
Medicine, Obsolete, a state in which a person believes he is possessed by a devil or has been endowed with supernatural powers.
a disordered mental condition in which the sufferer is prone to hallucinations.
a form of insanity or dementia praecox that can appear at puberty, characterized by foolish behavior and deterioration of the mental faculties.
an acute mania.
1. periodic insanity, once thought to be caused by the phases of the moon.
2. any form of insanity. — lunatic, adj.
2. any form of insanity. — lunatic, adj.
an abnormal tendency toward deep melancholy.
an abnormal fear of becoming insane.
an abnormal fear of madness.
1. Medicine. a form of mental illness characterized by the unreasonable conviction in the patient of his own greatness, goodness, power, or wealth.
2. an obsession with extravagant or grand actions. — megalomaniac, n., adj. — megalomaniacal, adj.
2. an obsession with extravagant or grand actions. — megalomaniac, n., adj. — megalomaniacal, adj.
a condition of abnormal gloom or depression, often of an intensity to become a form of insanity. — melancholiac, n., adj. — melancholie, n., adj.
Obsolete, a person suffering from melancholia; a melancholiac.
a form of treatment for mental illness that involves placing the patient under the influence of a narcotic.
the process of correcting bodily or mental distortion.
a mental disorder characterized by behavior that stems from an elaborately constructed system of delusions of persecution and grandeur. — paranoiac, n. — paranoid, adj.
a state resembling paranoia.
moral insanity.
any severe mental disorder or disease. — psychotic, n., adj.
a psychotic condition marked by erratic behavior, withdrawal from reality, and intellectual and emotional deterioration. Also called dementia praecox. — schizophrenic, n., adj.
a mild form of schizophrenia, characterized by withdrawal, inversion, etc. — schizothyme, n. — schizothymic, adj.
a mild mania.
a form of insanity or mental disorder in which the sufferer imagines that he is an animal. — zoanthropic, adj.
a form of hallucination in which the sufferer imagines he sees animals. Also called zooscopy.
zoopsia.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  insanity - relatively permanent disorder of the mindmental disease, mental illness, psychopathy - any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention dementedness, dementia - mental deterioration of organic or functional origin irrationality, unreason - the state of being irrational; lacking powers of understanding |
insanity
noun
1. madness, mental illness, dementia, aberration, mental disorder, delirium, craziness, mental derangement a powerful study of a woman's descent into insanity
madness sanity, reason, sense, rationality, normality, lucidity
madness sanity, reason, sense, rationality, normality, lucidity
2. stupidity, folly, lunacy, irresponsibility, senselessness, preposterousness the final financial insanity of the decade
stupidity sense, wisdom, logic, soundness
stupidity sense, wisdom, logic, soundness
Related words
fear lyssophobia, maniaphobia
fear lyssophobia, maniaphobia
Translations
insanity [ɪnˈsænɪtɪ] N
2. (= foolishness) → locura f, insensatez f
what he did was sheer insanity → lo que hizo fue una verdadera locura or insensatez
what he did was sheer insanity → lo que hizo fue una verdadera locura or insensatez
insanity
insanity [ɪnˈsænɪtɪ] n (Med) → infermità mentale; (gen) → pazzia, follia
insanity [ɪnˈsænɪtɪ] n (Med) → infermità mentale; (gen) → pazzia, follia
insanity [ɪnˈsænɪtɪ] n (Med) → infermità mentale; (gen) → pazzia, follia
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