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Synonyms

out to lunch

Idioms  

  1. 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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Yesterday, we babysat our granddaughter while our daughter and her husband went out to lunch to celebrate her birthday.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

On the particular afternoon that Camille is out to lunch with Irene and Lisa, she’s feeling similarly unhappy.

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

Dick Wolf took me out to lunch and persuaded me that it was a really good idea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

The comic took her and her family out to lunch the following month after Ms Nuttall was told the tumour had grown back and the family later brought Christmas forward after news it had spread.

From BBC ● May 22, 2023

Her mom really wanted to take me out to lunch, but I couldn’t do it.

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

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.

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