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Webster 1913 Edition


Insane

In-sane′

,
Adj.
[L.
insanus
. See
In-
not, and
Sane
.]
1.
Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; mad; deranged in mind; delirious; distracted. See
Insanity
, 2.
2.
Used by, or appropriated to, insane persons;
as, an
insane
hospital
.
3.
Causing insanity or madness.
[R.]
Or have we eaten on the
insane
root
That takes the reason prisoner ?
Shakespeare
4.
Characterized by insanity or the utmost folly; chimerical; unpractical;
as, an
insane
plan, attempt, etc.
I know not which was the
insane
measure.
Southey.

Webster 1828 Edition


Insane

INSA'NE

,
Adj.
[L. insanus; in and sanus, sound.]
1.
Unsound in mind or intellect; mad; deranged in mind; delirious; distracted. [In this sense of making mad, it is little used.]
2.
Used by or appropriated to insane persons; as an insane hospital.

INSA'NE

,
Noun.
An insane person; as a hospital for the insane.

Definition 2024


insane

insane

English

Adjective

insane (comparative more insane or insaner, superlative most insane or insanest)

  1. Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; mad; deranged in mind; delirious; distracted.
    • 1936, Dale Carnegie, “Part 1, Chapter 2. THE BIG SECRET OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 41:
      What is the cause of insanity?
      Nobody can answer such a sweeping question as that,
      but we know that certain diseases, such as syphilis, break
      down and destroy the brain cells and result in insanity. In
      fact, about one-half of all mental diseases can be attributed
      to such physical causes as brain lesions, alcohol, toxins,
      and injuries. But the other half—and this is the appalling
      part of the story—the other half of the people who go in-
      sane
      apparently have nothing organically wrong with
      their brain cells. In post-mortem examinations, when their
      brain tissues are studied under the highest-powered micro-
      scopes, they are found to be apparently just as healthy as
      yours and mine.
      Why do these people go insane?
  2. Used by, or appropriated to, insane persons; as, an insane hospital.
  3. Causing insanity or madness.
  4. Characterized by insanity or the utmost folly; chimerical; unpractical; as, an insane plan, attempt, etc.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 16, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      The preposterous altruism too! [] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:insane

Antonyms

Translations

Related terms

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From English insane

Adjective

insane m, f (plural insanes)

  1. insane, crazy
  2. foolish

Italian

Adjective

insane f pl

  1. feminine plural of insano

Latin

Adjective

īnsāne

  1. vocative masculine singular of īnsānus

References