batty
Americanadjective
adjective
-
insane; crazy
-
odd; eccentric
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of batty
Explanation
If someone's batty, she's eccentric or a little bit wacky. You might love it when your batty great aunt visits because she makes life so interesting. The adjective batty can be derogatory — as when you dismiss a mentally ill person as batty — or fond, as when you praise your batty English teacher, who quotes Shakespeare while doing handstands. If someone says, "You are driving me batty," it means you're making them feel crazy. Batty originally meant "like a bat," with the "eccentric" meaning arising from the expression "bats in the belfry," which means "crazy" or "not right in the head."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Alex Batty, who was abducted as a child and taken to live abroad by his mother, has contacted her for the first time since his return to the UK in 2023.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
Melanie and David Batty were contacted for comment by the BBC but did not provide a response to the allegations.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
Batty also became a valued member of the various dressing rooms he inhabited.
From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026
Rather than entertaining corporate guests, representing footballers or working in the media, Batty always planned to dedicate his time solely to his family in Yorkshire after retiring.
From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026
Thankful for his deliverance, he fell on his knees, and poured out a long prayer of gratitude for being thus freed from his enemies, Batty and Maudge.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 2 Historical, Traditional, and Imaginative by Wilson, John Mackay
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
