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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

Office workers out to lunch got an impromptu lesson on its parts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025

"There's already a rat infestation around here now. They are coming out to lunch every day," he said.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2025

Maybe that happened before COVID, but now the stuff he's saying, it's just completely out to lunch.

From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2025

He slowly slipped the pages into his science notebook and waited for the rest of the kids to rush out to lunch.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

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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