lunacy

noun

ˈlü-nə-sē How to pronounce lunacy (audio)
Definition of lunacynext
1
as in insanity
a foolish act or idea you want to sneak into the building after the alarm is set—what lunacy!

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2
as in dementia
a serious mental disorder that prevents one from living a safe and normal life the judge ruled that the lunacy of the accused made him incompetent to stand trial

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3
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment was it desperation or lunacy that caused him to quit his job and move to California without any plan for what to do when he got there?

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lunacy Pure lunacy — and now stressing out students with crashes of a computer system. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 2 May 2026 After all, there’s ample lunacy to be found on the left and the right these days. — Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026 Once upon a time, the idea of a baseball team allowing most of its games to be broadcast on television was lunacy. — Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 24 Feb. 2026 Because it's invariably attached to the idea of some kind of lunacy. — Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lunacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lunacy
  1. insanity
  2. dementia
  3. madness
  4. idiocy
  5. hysteria
  6. simplicity
  7. absurdity
Noun
  • Bennett asked the jury to find Hinton not guilty by reason of insanity.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • That sentence would have sounded like insanity a few decades ago, but in the strange world of Hollywood in the 2020s, weirder might really be better.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of insanity
Noun
  • Petersen’s research established the concept of mild cognitive impairment, which lies between healthy cognitive aging and dementia.
    — Richard Sima, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
  • According to authorities, the victim, Thomas Hegarty, suffered from severe dementia and had owned his Hollywood home for 25 years before four individuals schemed to strip him of his property.
    — Joan Murray, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of dementia
Noun
  • The couple’s relationship appears to be an archetypal folie a deux, or madness of two.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Read on to see how Humm made it through the madness to open Humm, the first restaurant to bear his name.
    — Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of madness
Noun
  • There's always been an element of complete idiocy in the culture.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Forty years on, Spy magazine is best remembered, not unjustly, as the first entity to call out Trump for his tackiness, villainy, and arrant idiocy.
    — David Kamp, Air Mail, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of idiocy
Noun
  • The Beatles, not yet known in America, were already inspiring hysteria across England.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Unfortunately, Shakespeare never actually visited Venice; and scholars now recognise that Shylock’s character is more a reflection of anti-Jewish hysteria in early seventeenth-century London than anything that was going on in Italy at that time.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of hysteria
Noun
  • Satin finish, soft glow Much like the origins of the mochi skin concept, the mochi skin aesthetic is rooted in the Japanese approach to beauty, where simplicity and radiance take center stage.
    — Jeanne Ballion, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • That process has been in place for over three decades, and Brazilians have become accustomed to its speed, simplicity, accuracy and routine.
    — Solly Boussidan, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of simplicity
Noun
  • For all the absurdity, though, the award carries considerable weight — even if the timing is bittersweet.
    — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 22 Oct. 2026
  • That obsession reached its peak of exuberant absurdity on a Friday in late July of 1995.
    — Adam Sztykiel, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of absurdity

Browse Nearby Words

lunacies
lunacy
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Cite this Entry

“Lunacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lunacy. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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