haywire

American

[hey-wahy^uhr] / ˈheɪˌwaɪər /

noun

wire used to bind bales of hay.

adjective

Informal.

in disorder.

The town is haywire because of the bus strike.
out of control; disordered; crazy.

The car went haywire. He's been haywire since he got the bad news.

haywire British

/ ˈheɪˌwaɪə /

adjective

(of things) not functioning properly; disorganized (esp in the phrase go haywire )
(of people) erratic or crazy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

haywire Idioms

see go haywire.

Etymology

Origin of haywire

First recorded in 1900–05; hay + wire

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 place where the chats went haywire was exactly when Gemini was upgraded to have persistent memory" and more sophisticated dialogues, Jay Edelson, the lead lawyer for the case, told AFP.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

When an agency goes haywire, voters will at least know who to blame.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

The plunge in stocks — by about 30% in less than three weeks — sent their portfolio balances haywire.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

But the women she’s asked are all in varying degrees of troubled transition, including but not limited to haywire hormones.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2025

His endocrine system was now going fully haywire.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023