cracked

American  

[krakt] / krækt /

adjective

1. broken.

   a container full of cracked ice.

2. broken without separation of parts; fissured.

3. damaged; injured.

4. Informal. eccentric; mad; daffy.

   a charming person, but a bit cracked.

5. broken in tone, as the voice.

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idioms

1. cracked up to be, reported or reputed to be (usually used in the negative).

   I hear the play is not what it's cracked up to be.

cracked British  

/ krækt /

adjective

1. damaged by cracking

2. informal crazy

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Other Word Forms

• uncracked adjective

Etymology

Origin of cracked

First recorded in 1400–50, cracked is from the late Middle English word crachyd. See crack, -ed ²

Example Sentences

A stretch that could have seen it pull away for good has instead cracked the door open for City.

From The Wall Street Journal

Their norteño take cracked the Billboard Hot 100 despite the group having no major label deal or studio album of their own.

From Los Angeles Times

In one of Mortimer's appearances on the BBC's comedy series Would I Lie to You, Mortimer claimed that Rea cracked an egg into a bath for him after they'd finished recording it at his studio.

From BBC

It is the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a mass shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.

From Barron's

Authorities have criticised highly destructive approaches and cracked down on what they call "chaotic extraction" since the early 2010s.

From Barron's

Related Words

• broken
• damaged
• fractured