maniac
Americannoun
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a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.
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any intemperate or overly zealous or enthusiastic person.
a maniac when it comes to details.
adjective
noun
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a wild disorderly person
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a person who has a great craving or enthusiasm for something
a football maniac
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obsolete psychiatry a person afflicted with mania
Etymology
Origin of maniac
First recorded in 1595–1605, maniac is from the Medieval Latin word maniacus of, pertaining to madness. See mania, -ac
Explanation
A maniac is a crazy person. Screaming like a maniac is never a good way to get your point across. Long ago, the word maniac was an official psychiatric term that meant "a patient suffering from mania," or manic disorder, involving a euphoric mood and extreme energy. Maniac isn't used in a clinical way anymore, but only informally to mean "lunatic." You might describe yourself running around the house like a maniac looking for your car keys, or dismiss your sports-obsessed brother as "a football maniac." The Greek root is mania, or "madness."
Vocabulary lists containing maniac
It's Madness!: Mania
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The Hot Zone
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The 15 Most Relevant Words from the Fifth Republican Presidential Debate (+5 more words of note)
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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.
Over the next two seasons, it seemed that nothing could slow The Maniac.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023
Enter our friends Marc and Chris, also known as the Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, who were happy to show us how the pros do it.
From Salon • Oct. 30, 2021
Since then, he says that Maniac Pumpkin Carvers gets bigger every year.
From Fox News • Oct. 26, 2021
As well as Maniac, Fukunaga has previously directed films including Beasts of No Nation and a 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2019
Maniac Magee was not born in a dump.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
