funny farm

noun

An insane asylum.

Similar
nuthousebedlambinbooby-hatchbooby housebughousecrazy housecuckoo's nest
First used the 20th c.
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Meanings

nounfunny farm (plural funny farms)

plural funny farms

  1. slangAn insane asylum.First known use the 20th c.

    Paddy the Duke was right. I had one more "tour of duty" to put in at the funny farm. They turned me loose a few days after he left, sometime in the winter months of 1959, but in a little more than a year's time I would be back at Avalon Valley; and I would be a very sick man.

    1968, Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes, page 117

    Synonyms: nuthouse, bedlam, bin, booby-hatch, booby house, bughouse, crazy house, cuckoo's nest

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn insane asylum.

Similar
nuthousebedlambinbooby-hatchbooby housebughousecrazy housecuckoo's nesthappy hotelinsane asylumlaughing academyloony binlunatic asylummadhousemental asylummental homemental hotelgrippy sock vacationmental health center

More synonyms by meaning

nounpejorative terms for an insane asylum

Similar
Bedlambooby hatchcrazy housecuckoo's nestfunny houseloony binmadhousenut housenuthousesanatoriumsnake pit
Broader
mental hospitalpsychiatric hospitalmental institution
Also see
bedlamcuckoo's nestlaughing academyloony binlunatic asylummadhousemental asylummental hospitalnuthousepsychiatric hospitalsanatoriumsnake pit

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

funny farm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funny%20farm

MLA

“funny farm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funny%20farm. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “funny farm,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funny%20farm.

Source: funny farm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.