lunacy

American  

[loo-nuh-see] / ˈlu nə si /

noun

plural

lunacies

1. insanity; mental disorder.

   Synonyms:

   aberration, mania, madness, craziness, dementia, derangement

   Antonyms:

   sanity, rationality

2. intermittent insanity, formerly believed to be related to phases of the moon.

   Antonyms:

   sanity, rationality

3. extreme foolishness or an instance of it.

   Her decision to resign was sheer lunacy.

   Synonyms:

   stupidity, folly

4. unsoundness of mind sufficient to incapacitate one for civil transactions: a former legal term.

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lunacy British  

/ ˈluːnəsɪ /

noun

1. (formerly) any severe mental illness

2. foolishness or a foolish act

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Etymology

Origin of lunacy

First recorded in 1535–45; lun(atic) + -acy

Example Sentences

In the case of “Nirvanna the Band,” I assume the answer to the second question at some point becomes “no,” but it’s all done with a very persuasive mix of vérité style and can-do lunacy.

From The Wall Street Journal

The way O’Hara gilds this line’s delivery with a wistful sparkle feels true because we’ve seen her spin such treasure playing all kinds of would-be topliners with an amiable, delicious amount of lunacy.

From Salon

It requires little effort to arrange the group’s most unhinged statements into a cornucopia of lunacy, surpassed in recent memory only by the tinfoil conspiracism of QAnon.

From Salon

“Bloodline” reminds me of the breed of darkly comic postwar novels by Robert Coover, William H. Gass, Harry Crews and others, in which regional manias stand in for a broader national lunacy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Where “I Think You Should Leave” operates like a jukebox, “The Chair Company” is a concept album extrapolating a single sight gag into a swirl of lunacy on par with an extended free jazz performance.

From Salon

Related Words

• absurdity
• folly
• foolishness
• idiocy
• insanity
• mania
• silliness
• stupidity