different between insane vs screwy

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

screw +? -y. 1820, original meaning “tipsy, slightly drunk”; meaning “crazy, ridiculous” first recorded 1887.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sk?u?.i/
• Rhymes: -u?i

Adjective

screwy (comparative screwier or more screwy, superlative screwiest or most screwy)

1. (informal) Crazy; silly; ridiculous

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insane
2. (archaic, informal) Tipsy; slightly drunk.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:drunk

   • 1868, Memorials of a theological college. London: Houlston & Wright. 1868. p9

     "A tipsy man," said Spearman, "is generally noisy ; and I confess I was screwy on Wednesday."

3. (archaic) Exacting; extortionate; close.
4. (archaic) Worthless.

Quotations

• 1840, Hal of the West. Brilliant run with the Puckeridge hounds. The Sporting Magazine. March, 1840. Vol XX, No 119. p383

  " I saw my hearty out of the yard, with his pink peeping out of his Macintosh, on his screwy old black horse, and I heard from my fair waiter that he had been vaunting that he would lick us all into fits."

• 1877, Edward Peacock, English Dialect Society. A glossary of words used in the wapentakes of Manley and Corringham. London: Trubner & Co. 1877. p120

  "Screwy [skroo'i], adj. mean ; stingy ; parsimonious. Alto, slightly intoxicated."

Related terms

• have a screw loose
• screwball
• screw up