Therefore the original meaning of the term lunatic seems to be linked to epilepsy rather than insanity.

Meaning of lunatic. A person who behaves in a really wild and bizarre manner is an example of a lunatic. General Comment Lunatic Fringe is an old political slang expression for what today we would call militant wingnut activist groups. Someone driving too fast and zigging in and out of traffic is driving like a lunatic.

A lunatic is someone who is either clinically insane or just acting really crazy. If you describe someone as a lunatic you think they behave in a dangerous stupid or annoying way. Recent Examples on the Web Davis endured nasty and sometimes threatening letters from a.

Originally it referred to the far left and was used against anarchist socialist and communist activists who went around blowing things up mines factories etc in the early decades of the 20th century. The gaol was also used for a number of years to house the mentally insane as lunatics had to be restrained and kept out of sight. Affected with a severely disordered state of mind.

Designed for the care of mentally ill people a lunatic asylum. Nutter British slang nut slang maniac loony slang More Synonyms of lunatic. A person who is affected by lunacy.

A mentally deranged person. The root of this word is luna which means moon. Definition of the lunatic fringe from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary Cambridge University Press.

The members of a usually political or social movement espousing extreme eccentric or fanatical views Examples of lunatic fringe in a Sentence His nomination is opposed by the partys lunatic fringe. Luːnətɪk Word forms. Now considered offensive an insane person.