[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/lunatic/)

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# lunatic

noun (a lunatic, lunatics); adjective (lunatic)

«lunatic» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (informal) A person who behaves in a wild, silly or dangerous way: «He drives like a lunatic». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#m1)
2. (adjective, informal) Very silly or crazy: «a lunatic idea». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#m2)
3. (old, now offensive) An old word for a person with a serious mental illness; today it is hurtful to use it this way. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday speech people say «drives like a lunatic» or «a lunatic idea» to mean reckless or crazy. In history lessons you meet «lunatic asylum», an old name for a hospital for people with mental illness. Today we say «mental illness» and «psychiatric hospital» instead, because «lunatic» about real ill people is hurtful. The word comes from Latin «luna» (moon): people once wrongly believed the moon made people mad.

### Examples

- Some lunatic was driving at 80 miles an hour past the school! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x1)
- Jumping off the shed roof was a lunatic idea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x2)
- The crowd went lunatic when the goal went in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x3)
- In Victorian times there were places called lunatic asylums. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x4)
- Grandma says the price of petrol is lunatic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x5)
- He was running round the garden like a lunatic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x6)
- Today we say «a person with a mental illness», not «a lunatic». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x7)
- Some people believed a full moon made people act like lunatics, but science has not shown this. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/#x8)

### Note

Countable: one lunatic, two lunatics. Informal and a bit rude when said about a person; never use it about people who are really ill. Myth: the full moon does not make people mad – studies have not found this. Related: «lunar» (about the moon), «lunacy» (madness, foolishness). Not a maths word.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «lunatic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lunatic/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«lunatic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/lunatic.html) on Mova free.