crazy (English)
Where does "crazy" come from?
The word 'crazy' originates from the Middle English verb 'craze,' meaning to crush or break. It evolved through the addition of the suffix '-y' to describe an object that was 'crazed,' or full of cracks, eventually transitioning from a term for physical damage to a metaphor for a broken or unsound mind.
Full etymology tree
- crazy (English), 'Of unsound mind; insane; demented.'
- suffix craze (English), 'A strong habitual desire or fancy.'
- inherited crasen (Middle English), 'To break in pieces; to crack.'
- inherited *krasa (Old Norse)
- inherited crasen (Middle English), 'To break in pieces; to crack.'
- suffix -y (Middle English), 'Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by being appended to a noun.'
- inherited -iġ (Old English), '-y; forms adjectives from nouns and verbs'
- inherited *-g (Proto-West Germanic), 'Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a sense of being, having, or doing.'
- inherited *-īgaz (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *-ikos (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *-īgaz (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *-g (Proto-West Germanic), 'Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a sense of being, having, or doing.'
- inherited -iġ (Old English), '-y; forms adjectives from nouns and verbs'
- suffix craze (English), 'A strong habitual desire or fancy.'
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris