Insanity meaning

ĭn-săn'ĭ-tē
The definition of insanity is having a serious mental illness or being extremely foolish.

An example of insanity is a personality disorder.

An example of insanity is jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.

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The state of being insane; madness.
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Any form or degree of mental derangement or unsoundness of mind, permanent or temporary, that makes a person incapable of what is regarded legally as normal, rational conduct or judgment.
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Severe mental illness or derangement. Not used in psychiatric diagnosis.
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The state of being insane; mental illness or derangement.
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Great folly; extreme senselessness.
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A mental disorder that deprives a criminal defendant of capacity to be tried.
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Origin of insanity

  • "insane+-ity": insānus (“unhealthy; insane”) + -itās
    From Wiktionary
  • "in- + sanity": in-- (“healthy; sane”) +‎ sanitās.
    From Wiktionary

Insanity Sentence Examples

  • The insanity of what she did was beyond his comprehension.

  • Pierre's insanity consisted in not waiting, as he used to do, to discover personal attributes which he termed "good qualities" in people before loving them; his heart was now overflowing with love, and by loving people without cause he discovered indubitable causes for loving them.

  • There are six more months of insanity to record in 1787.

  • A year later, the kings insanity being proved incurable, the regency was definitively established (February 1812).

  • The first attack upon the horrors of the slave-trade was made in 1788; and in the same year, in the debates on the Regency Bill caused by the kings insanity, Pitt defended against Fox the right of parliament to make provision for the exercise of the powers of the crown when the wearer was permanently or temporarily disabled from exercising his authority.

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Related articles

Words near insanity in the Dictionary