craze
Americanverb (used with object)
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crazes,
present (3rd person singular)
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crazed,
past participle, past
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crazing
present participle
-
to derange or impair the mind of; make insane.
He was crazed by jealousy.
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to make small cracks on the surface of (a ceramic glaze, paint, or the like); crackle.
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British Dialect. to crack.
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Archaic. to weaken; impair.
to craze one's health.
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Obsolete. to break; shatter.
verb (used without object)
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crazes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crazed,
past participle, past
-
crazing
present participle
-
to become insane; go mad.
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to become minutely cracked, as a ceramic glaze; crackle.
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Metallurgy.
-
(of a case-hardened object) to develop reticulated surface markings; worm.
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(of an ingot) to develop an alligator skin as a result of being teemed into an old and worn mold.
-
-
Archaic. to fall to pieces; break.
noun
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a short-lived current fashion
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a wild or exaggerated enthusiasm
a craze for chestnuts
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mental disturbance; insanity
verb
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to make or become mad
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ceramics metallurgy to develop or cause to develop a fine network of cracks
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archaic (tr) to break
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archaic (tr) to weaken
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crazesimple
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crazessimple
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have crazedperfect
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has crazedperfect
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am crazingprogressive
-
are crazingprogressive
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is crazingprogressive
-
have been crazingperfect progressive
-
has been crazingperfect progressive
Past
-
crazedsimple
-
had crazedperfect
-
was crazingprogressive
-
were crazingprogressive
-
had been crazingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of craze
1325–75; Middle English crasen to crush < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Norwegian krasa to shatter, crush
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:
But how likely is the current froyo craze to survive?
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
"Before the ube craze, it was a niche market," he said, adding it had lagged behind high-value crops like bananas, mangoes and coffee.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Vic Sorbaro, David and Stephen’s father, was propelled by the car-buying craze of the 1950s to pivot from fixing bikes to fixing car tires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
To stand out, consumer-goods giants have tried to get more creative with their new products, leaning into trends like the ongoing protein craze and the frenzy around higher-fiber diets.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
John Tookey showed off this new New York craze called break dancing but went spinning out of control into a group of girls, who toppled like skittles.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Squishmallows, Labubus, Jelly Cats and other recent crazes have each leveraged a cute aesthetic to generate major revenue, according to reports.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
Like many other internet-fueled food crazes, Cane’s enthusiasm often spills offline in surprisingly tangible ways.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
The company went public at the beginning of October and has positioned itself at the crossroads of two crazes: the build-out of more data centers to power artificial intelligence and a potential U.S. nuclear-power resurgence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
The egg-shaped toy housing a virtual pet was one of the biggest crazes of the 1990s.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024
The waves of recurring crime, the silly fads and crazes, the quicksilver changes in public taste, the hysteria and fears—all of these had long been mysteries to me.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
After 10 days of crazed moviegoing at the Cannes Film Festival, Times film critic Amy Nicholson and Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf are all but spent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
He wasn’t a crazed football fan or a flighty 30-something bachelor, but an outdoorsman who loved mountain biking away from the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
“It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances!”
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026
It brought people who saw the hordes of crazed support as a money faucet—an opportunity to turn Tesla allegiance into a financial gold mine.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2025
He waits, looking at me with a crazed smirk.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
But the Bureau of Land Management still moved to protect them with new rules that would limit mining, development and cattle crazing — all of which represent lucrative revenue for industries and the states.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2015
As bad as we’ve played, people might think I’m crazing for saying we don’t believe we’re out of it.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2011
Too thick a finish will cause cooling, crazing and cracking.
From Time Magazine Archive
But how can I believe she does when I see that it is breaking her poor heart, and crazing her brain, and killing her?
From Her Mother's Secret by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
While unsuspended wheels the village dance, The maidens eye him with inquiring glance, Much wondering what sad stroke of crazing Care Or desperate Love could lead a wanderer there.
From The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 by William Knight
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