maniac

[mey-nee-ak]

noun

1. a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.

2. any intemperate or overly zealous or enthusiastic person.

   a maniac when it comes to details.

adjective

1. maniacal.

maniac

/ ˈmeɪnɪˌæk /

noun

1. a wild disorderly person

2. a person who has a great craving or enthusiasm for something

   a football maniac

3. obsolete,  psychiatry a person afflicted with mania

Word History and Origins

Origin of maniac¹

First recorded in 1595–1605, maniac is from the Medieval Latin word maniacus of, pertaining to madness. See mania, -ac

Word History and Origins

Origin of maniac¹

C17: from Late Latin maniacus belonging to madness, from Greek

Example Sentences

“I can’t wait till your kids turn 12 and see this, and find out their father is a secret maniac,” Kimmel said.

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And no less unfortunately, we’re speeding down it quickly with a maniac in the driver’s seat, and it lacks the guardrails of a law-abiding Supreme Court and a constitutionally aware secretary of defense.

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“I’m sitting here painting away like a maniac,” she admits.

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The city, he said, had been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”

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A filing from Dominion’s lawsuit revealed that Pirro’s own Fox producer called her a “reckless maniac.”

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Related Words

• fanatic 
• fiend 
• freak 
• looney 
• lunatic 
• zealot