English

Adjective

barmy ‎(comparative barmier, superlative barmiest)

1. (rare) containing barm, i.e. froth from fermented yeast
   • Dryden

     Barmy beer.

Etymology 2

Probably an alteration of balmy. The meaning foolish is cited as dating only from 1892 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=barmy so this usage may be derived from Barming in Kent, the location of the county's psychiatric hospital (colloquially loonybin) from 1833.

Adjective

barmy ‎(comparative barmier, superlative barmiest)

1. (chiefly Britain) odd, strange.
   • 2013, Russell Brand, Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems' (in The Guardian, 13 September 2013)

     I thanked John, said the "oracle award" sounds like a made-up prize you'd give a fat kid on sports day – I should know, I used to get them – then that it's barmy that Hugo Boss can trade under the same name they flogged uniforms to the Nazis under and the ludicrous necessity for an event such as this one to banish such a lurid piece of information from our collective consciousness.

Synonyms

• dotty, goofy, wacko

Derived terms

• barmily
• barminess
• Barmy Army

Usage notes

• in US English, balmy is usual for sense (2); elsewhere this is occasionally found but some authorities consider it erroneous, despite its probable etymology.

Anagrams

• ambry