stir-crazy
Americanadjective
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Informal. restless or frantic because of confinement, routine, etc..
I was stir-crazy after just two months of keeping house.
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mentally ill because of long imprisonment.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stir-crazy
Explanation
If you're living in a small cabin in the woods, and it pours rain for three days straight, you're likely to get a bit stir-crazy from being cooped up inside. You'll likely be even stir-crazier if there are five of you in there, including one crying baby! Stir-crazy is from the late 1930s. It began as prison slang, used to describe inmates who suffer genuine mental illness as a result of being confined in a cell for a long period. However, its use was quickly extended to describe the restless, anxious, or uneasy feeling that anybody who is shut up indoors, or isolated from other people, might get. A stay-at-home parent with small children might feel a little stir-crazy from time to time, especially if they can't get out and interact with other adults.
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.
“Everyone had this bit of a stir-crazy cabin-fever vibe going.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
Ben had this idea, in order to stave off going stir-crazy and for us to be able to still connect musically with one another, why don’t we try this experimental telephone-style of writing.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2022
“I’m trying to find the balance between not going stir-crazy and physical health risk,” she said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
But without the theater, Dove was going stir-crazy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2021
While I waited for the trial, school had started in Greenwood, and during the day when all the kids in town—including Naomi—were in class, I did what I could to keep from going stir-crazy.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
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.
