Etymology

crackbrained

C3R1A1C3K5B3R1A1I1N1E1D2

Today it means: Idiotic. Full definition →

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The story

From crack + brained. The word is centuries old, and the original imagery is of a brain that is cracked (broken), but the advent of crack cocaine produced a new surface analysis whereby the word now also suggests a crack(rock)-addled brain. But even with that difference in referents, cognation is involved regardless.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.