craze
Americanverb (used with object)
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crazes,
present (3rd person singular)
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crazed,
past participle, past
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crazing
present participle
-
to derange or impair the mind of; make insane.
He was crazed by jealousy.
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to make small cracks on the surface of (a ceramic glaze, paint, or the like); crackle.
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British Dialect. to crack.
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Archaic. to weaken; impair.
to craze one's health.
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Obsolete. to break; shatter.
verb (used without object)
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crazes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crazed,
past participle, past
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crazing
present participle
-
to become insane; go mad.
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to become minutely cracked, as a ceramic glaze; crackle.
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Metallurgy.
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(of a case-hardened object) to develop reticulated surface markings; worm.
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(of an ingot) to develop an alligator skin as a result of being teemed into an old and worn mold.
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-
Archaic. to fall to pieces; break.
noun
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a short-lived current fashion
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a wild or exaggerated enthusiasm
a craze for chestnuts
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mental disturbance; insanity
verb
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to make or become mad
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ceramics metallurgy to develop or cause to develop a fine network of cracks
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archaic (tr) to break
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archaic (tr) to weaken
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crazesimple
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crazessimple
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have crazedperfect
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has crazedperfect
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am crazingprogressive
-
are crazingprogressive
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is crazingprogressive
-
have been crazingperfect progressive
-
has been crazingperfect progressive
Past
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crazedsimple
-
had crazedperfect
-
was crazingprogressive
-
were crazingprogressive
-
had been crazingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of craze
1325–75; Middle English crasen to crush < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Norwegian krasa to shatter, crush
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.
See Examples For:
At a Tokyo gelato shop, ube importer JP Mercado told AFP the Japanese market was expanding rapidly after the craze first hit neighbouring South Korea.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
In the wake of the “Obsession” craze, however, Navarrette has reveled in seeing Latinos embrace her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The internet’s peptide craze is built around injections of questionable provenance and uncertain science.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Driving this, she says, is a viral craze for bare-looking nails.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
During my college craze in October, I encouraged the students to apply for scholarships.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Like many other internet-fueled food crazes, Cane’s enthusiasm often spills offline in surprisingly tangible ways.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
You could say that frozen-yogurt trends come in crazes, not phases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Thanks to social media and modern health crazes, hydration is no longer about just drinking water — and that has kicked off a corporate rush to develop and market more sophisticated drinks.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
At its peak, Unity was a wildly popular game engine and the driving force behind viral crazes like Pokémon Go.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
The waves of recurring crime, the silly fads and crazes, the quicksilver changes in public taste, the hysteria and fears—all of these had long been mysteries to me.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Either way, reluctance to associate either Salinger or his most indelible creation with crazed murderers meant keeping their own wounds at arms’ length.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
During the online show, Rhodes’ character Austin Drizzles, who performs the crackpot weekly weather report, would field calls from crazed viewers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
He wasn’t a crazed football fan or a flighty 30-something bachelor, but an outdoorsman who loved mountain biking away from the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
It brought people who saw the hordes of crazed support as a money faucet—an opportunity to turn Tesla allegiance into a financial gold mine.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2025
“The truth? You treated me like I’m a crazed criminal!”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
But the Bureau of Land Management still moved to protect them with new rules that would limit mining, development and cattle crazing — all of which represent lucrative revenue for industries and the states.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2015
As bad as we’ve played, people might think I’m crazing for saying we don’t believe we’re out of it.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2011
Too thick a finish will cause cooling, crazing and cracking.
From Time Magazine Archive
If the coefficient of expansion of these three layers differs, in other121 words, if the glaze does not fit, the result is crazing, that bugbear of the potter.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by George J. Cox
I will not suffer him to wander through my land crazing the people with his tales of dreams and visions.
From The Ghost Kings by Henry Rider Haggard
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
