funny farm
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of funny farm
First recorded in 1960–65; funny 1 in the sense “strange, peculiar, odd” and farm in the sense “a place that serves a specified type of client”
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.
This subtle, amiable jailbird on temporary leave to the funny farm is saner than the men around him but he’s not necessarily brighter.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2023
Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time when a month in the funny farm was as de rigueur for budding writers as an MFA is now.
From Slate • Aug. 10, 2015
"I don't watch betting patterns and I think, if I did, I'd wind up in the funny farm."
From The Guardian • Jul. 19, 2012
McNally is an angry and some-tunes vicious observer of personality types; this funny farm is liberally mined with terror as well as gags.
From Time Magazine Archive
And to everyone else, take it easy and hang tough. i was temporarily insane at the time See you smart guys at the funny farm.
From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette
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.
