out to lunch

Idioms and Phrases

Not in touch with the real world, crazy; also, inattentive. For example, If he believes that story, he's really out to lunch , or Anne hasn't heard a word you said—she's out to lunch . This expression transfers a temporary physical absence for the purpose of eating to a temporary or permanent mental absence. [ Slang ; mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

"He picked on a few boys within that group, befriend us, invited us back out to lunch at his family home and slowly over the years became a sort of father figure to me."

From BBC

“In all likelihood, unless the president is completely out to lunch for some reason or another, either physically or mentally, the office itself functions.”

From Los Angeles Times

Phoong didn’t have any merch at the time, so instead she invited the girl out to lunch.

From Los Angeles Times

“So, I called them up, and it turned out that one of the men who was running the study had been a roommate of mine years before. He took me out to lunch and said, ‘What do you think?’ and I said, ‘I think I’ve got it,’ and he said, ‘You’re right.’

From Los Angeles Times

I would ask my friends who were trying to turn me on to "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" how did this old white guy get a television show about running around LA and going out to lunch, and who would always seem to end up in an argument that he started?

From Salon

Related Words

• dull
• dumb
• foolish
• futile
• ill-advised
• irrelevant
• laughable
• ludicrous
• naive
• senseless
• shortsighted
• simple
• trivial