Meanings
plural insanities
- countableuncountableThe state of being insane; madness.
The defendant pleaded insanity in the hope of getting a reduced sentence.
1 more example
But the bed-side of Lady Marchmont had a darker lesson than the grave, the ravings of insanity revealed the fiery world of that beating and passionate heart. Ethel could only feel too fearful, too humbled, for judgment; but she wept, even while she prayed, beside her early friend.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Chamber of Death”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 271Synonyms: bedlamism, brainsickness, craze, craziness, derangement, insaneness, lunacy, lune · Antonyms: buttons, lucidity, lucidness, marbles, mind, saneness, sanity
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state of being insane; madness.
More synonyms by meaning
nounrelatively permanent disorder of the mind
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsānitās“sound in mind; sane”
- Latinīnsānus“unsound in mind; mad, insane”
- Englishinsanity
A three-part word (root 'sane', prefix 'in-' meaning 'not', suffix '-ity', meaning 'the state of'). Derived from Latin precursory equivalents. Two possible candidates for construction order: * insane + -ity: īnsānus (“unhealthy; insane”) + -itās *: Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”). Modern forms of roots: in- + sane * in- + sanity: in- (“lacking; without”) + sānitās (“health; sanity”) *: Latin sānitās (“sound in mind; sane”), from sānus + -itās. Modern forms of roots: sane + -ity
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μανία
- μανία (manía)state of being insane
Arabic جُنُون
- جُنُون (junūn)state of being insane
Bulgarian лу́дост, ненорма́лност
- лу́дост (lúdost)state of being insane
- ненорма́лност (nenormálnost)state of being insane
- безу́мие (bezúmie)state of being insane
Catalan insanitat, bogeria
- insanitatstate of being insane
- bogeriastate of being insane
Chinese Mandarin 狂, 瘋病 /疯病
- 狂 (kuáng)state of being insane
- 瘋病 /疯病 (fēngbìng)state of being insane
- 精神錯亂 /精神错乱 (jīngshén cuòluàn)state of being insane
Czech šílenství
- šílenstvístate of being insane
Danish sindssyge, galskab
- sindssygestate of being insane
- galskabstate of being insane
- vanvidstate of being insane
Dutch krankzinnigheid, waanzin
- krankzinnigheidstate of being insane
- waanzinstate of being insane
Esperanto frenezeco
- frenezecostate of being insane
Estonian vaimuhaigus, hullumeelsus
- vaimuhaigusstate of being insane
- hullumeelsusstate of being insane
Finnish hulluus
- hulluusstate of being insane
French folie
- foliestate of being insane
German Wahnsinn, Verrücktheit
- Wahnsinnstate of being insane
- Verrücktheitstate of being insane
Greek παραφροσύνη
- παραφροσύνη (parafrosýni)state of being insane
Hindi पागलपन, जुनून
- पागलपन (pāgalpan)state of being insane
- जुनून (junūn)state of being insane
Hungarian elmebaj
- elmebajstate of being insane
Icelandic geðveiki, vitfirring
- geðveikistate of being insane
- vitfirringstate of being insane
Indonesian kesintingan, kegilaan
- kesintinganstate of being insane
- kegilaanstate of being insane
Irish gealtacht
- gealtachtstate of being insane
Italian follia, pazzia
- folliastate of being insane
- pazziastate of being insane
Japanese 精神異常, 狂気
- 精神異常 (seishin ijō)state of being insane
- 狂気 (kyōki)state of being insane
Korean 광기, 심신상실
- 광기 (gwanggi)state of being insane
- 심신상실 (simsinsangsil)state of being insane
Latin vēsānia, īnsānia
- vēsāniastate of being insane
- īnsāniastate of being insane
- īnsānitāsstate of being insane
- vēcordiastate of being insane
- dēmentiastate of being insane
Latvian ārprāts, vājprāts
- ārprātsstate of being insane
- vājprātsstate of being insane
- trakumsstate of being insane
Lithuanian beprotybė, pamišimas
- beprotybėstate of being insane
- pamišimasstate of being insane
Malay gila, kegilaan
- gilastate of being insane
- kegilaanstate of being insane
Norwegian Bokmål sinnssykdom, galskap
- sinnssykdomstate of being insane
- galskapstate of being insane
Polish obłęd, niepoczytalność
- obłędstate of being insane
- niepoczytalnośćstate of being insane
- obłąkaniestate of being insane
- szaleństwostate of being insane
Portuguese insanidade, loucura
- insanidadestate of being insane
- loucurastate of being insane
Punjabi ਪਾਗਲਪਣ
- ਪਾਗਲਪਣ (pāglapaṇ)state of being insane
Romanian nebunie, insanitate
- nebuniestate of being insane
- insanitatestate of being insane
- demențăstate of being insane
- alienație mintalăstate of being insane
- alienare mintalăstate of being insane
Russian безу́мие, сумасше́ствие
- безу́мие (bezúmije)state of being insane
- сумасше́ствие (sumasšéstvije)state of being insane
- помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo)state of being insane
- умопомраче́ние (umopomračénije)state of being insane
- умопомеша́тельство (umopomešátelʹstvo)state of being insane
Slovak šialenstvo
- šialenstvostate of being insane
Spanish locura, insania
- locurastate of being insane
- insaniastate of being insane
- vesaniastate of being insane
Swahili kichaa
- kichaastate of being insane
Swedish galenskap, vansinne
- galenskapstate of being insane
- vansinnestate of being insane
Tagalog kabaliwan
- kabaliwanstate of being insane
Thai ความวิกลจริต, ความบ้า
- ความวิกลจริต (kwaam-wí-gon-jà-rìt)state of being insane
- ความบ้า (kwaam-bâa)state of being insane
Turkish delilik, cinnet
- delilikstate of being insane
- cinnetstate of being insane
Ukrainian божеві́лля
- божеві́лля (boževíllja)state of being insane
Urdu پاگَل پَن, جُنُون
- پاگَل پَن (pāgal pan)state of being insane
- جُنُون (junūn)state of being insane
Vietnamese tính trạng điên, sự điên rồ
- tính trạng điênstate of being insane
- sự điên rồstate of being insane
- sự điên loạnstate of being insane
- sự điênstate of being insane
Welsh gorffwylltra
- gorffwylltrastate of being insane
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with insanity
Cite this entry
insanity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insanity
“insanity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insanity. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “insanity,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insanity.
Source: insanity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.