different between insane vs moonstruck

English

Etymology

From Latin ?ns?nus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + s?nus (“sound, sane”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?se?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Adjective

insane (comparative more insane or insaner, superlative most insane or insanest)

1. Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; mad

   Synonyms: delirious, distracted

   • What is the cause of insanity? Nobody can answer such a sweeping question as that, but we know that certain diseases, such as syphilis, break down and destroy the brain cells and result in insanity. In fact, about one-half of all mental diseases can be attributed to such physical causes as brain lesions, alcohol, toxins, and injuries. But the other half—and this is the appalling part of the story—the other half of the people who go insane apparently have nothing organically wrong with their brain cells. In post-mortem examinations, when their brain tissues are studied under the highest-powered microscopes, they are found to be apparently just as healthy as yours and mine. Why do these people go insane?

2. Used by, or appropriated to, insane persons

3. Causing insanity or madness.
4. Characterized by insanity or the utmost folly; ridiculous; impractical

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:insane

Antonyms

• sane

Derived terms

• insanely

Related terms

• insanity

Translations

Further reading

• insane in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• insane in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• insane at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Annies, Sannie, Sienna, inanes, nenias, sannie, sienna

French

Etymology

From English insane

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.san/

Adjective

insane (plural insanes)

1. crazy
2. foolish

Further reading

• “insane” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Adjective

insane f pl

1. feminine plural of insano

Latin

Adjective

?ns?ne

1. vocative masculine singular of ?ns?nus

References

• insane in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• insane in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• insane in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

moon +? struck. Compare German Low German maansüchtig, German mondsüchtig.

Adjective

moonstruck (comparative more moonstruck, superlative most moonstruck)

1. (obsolete) Crazy or insane when affected by the phases of the Moon.
2. (by extension) Showing irrational behaviour, especially of a romantic or sentimental nature.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lectures 4 & 5:

     [W]e can also overlook the verbiage of a good deal of the mind-cure literature, some of which is so moonstruck with optimism and so vaguely expressed that an academically trained intellect finds it almost impossible to read it at all.

   • 1925, Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, Chapter 21, IV:

     The full moon was spacious now behind the maples. The seedy Pickerbaugh domain was enchanted […] and over all the world was the proper witchery of moonstruck love.

3. (obsolete) Made sick, or (like fishes) unsuitable for food, by the supposed influence of the Moon.

Synonyms

• moonstricken

Translations