craziness

[krey-zee-nis]

noun

1. the state or condition of being mentally deranged; madness.

   Thinking you can handle everything in life by yourself is itself a kind of craziness.

   The long, dark Arctic winter produced a kind of craziness in him.

2. Informal.,  the state or quality of being wildly busy, hectic, chaotic, etc..

   Now that the Christmas craziness is over, I'm finally getting back to writing my blog.

3. Informal.,  an unpredictable, nonconforming, or odd quality; eccentricity.

   Dave is perfect for me—he understands me, laughs with me, and loves me in spite of my craziness.

4. Informal.,  a bizarre or random quality, or something having this quality.

   Shooting this movie we got away with a lot of improv and craziness and stuff that didn't have to fit or have much meaning behind it.

5. Informal.,  a rash, silly, or unsound quality, or behavior, ideas, etc., of this kind.

   He argued against the craziness of changing the clocks every fall, making late afternoon even more dangerous for children coming home from school.

6. Informal.,  intense or excessive emotion about someone or something; enthusiasm, infatuation, alarm, frustration, etc. (usually followed by about, for, orover ).

   His craziness about her is based solely on her beauty.

   I expect the switchboards to be lit up with people's craziness over this issue.

Word History and Origins

Origin of craziness¹

First recorded in 1610–20; crazy ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

"I still get the perfect amount of normality from my friends, despite all the craziness," he added.

From BBC

The drama, emotion and craziness would be nice.

From BBC

But having amped up the craziness and the stakes, Storer now appears to be more interested in exploring why so many people believe that an ever-roiling crucible is necessary to achieve greatness.

From Los Angeles Times

"It's kind of funny. It's almost as if the old American Puritans and their craziness is resurfacing."

From BBC

I was so lucky to have the first point be a local thing, and not just get caught up in the craziness of the Hollywood industry.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• absurdity 
• idiocy 
• insanity 
• lunacy 
• madness 
• nonsense 
• nuttiness www.thesaurus.com
• silliness