Affected with a severely disordered state of mind.

Meaning of lunatic. 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. 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. Now considered offensive an insane person.

If you describe someone as a lunatic you think they behave in a dangerous stupid or annoying way. Lunatic A reckless or psychopathic individual. Thats because lunatic originally meant someone who went crazy with every phase of the moon kind of like a werewolf.

A lunatic is someone who is either clinically insane or just acting really crazy. The definition of a lunatic is a person who is either actually crazy or who is acting crazy and wild in his behavior. A mentally deranged person.

A person who is mentally ill 3. Derived from Lunar which in turn is derived from the Latin word for Moon. It used to be popular belief that insane and psychologically disturbed people had been effected by the phases of the moon.

The term lunaticus est is the Latin translation of the Greek verb σεληνιαζεται seleniazetai which includes the prefix selen - from σεληνη - the ancient Greek word for the moon. A person who behaves in a really wild and bizarre manner is an example of a lunatic. She continued to gape at him as if he was a runaway lunatic from a nearby mental asylum.

A person who is affected by lunacy. Therefore the original meaning of the term lunatic seems to be linked to epilepsy rather than insanity. 1 A person who is mentally ill not in technical use.