craze
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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
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.
The recent bourbon craze kicked off in 2010, when a resurgent cocktail culture helped elevate the Old Fashioned and craft drinks in bars from London to Los Angeles.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
The problem with the snack tin craze lies in its rhetoric.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
Memory companies have been the latest beneficiaries of the artificial-intelligence investing craze, a boom that has lifted the entire semiconductor sector.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Cohen has been leading GameStop since 2023, a few years after the initial meme-stock craze the took the company’s stock price to new heights.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Paintings, drawings, pottery; all sorts of “sculptures” made from whatever was the craze of the day—bashed-up cans, maybe, or bottle tops stuck onto cardboard.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
