deranged

1 of 2

adjective

de·​ranged di-ˈrānjd 

1

often offensive : mentally unsound : insane sense 1b

—not used technically

2

sometimes offensive : wildly odd or eccentric

His life was crowded, rather than peacefully isolated, and certainly never of an Olympian detachment, even though he was capable of quite deranged gestures of show-offy extravagance—such as buying an enormous house, more suitable for a banker than a painter …

—Robert Hughes

Or you could take part in a deranged computer game where you had to cycle after a huge beach ball, scoop it up and throw it through a hoop, scoring points for each goal.

—Natasha Ellis

3

dated, now sometimes offensive : disturbed or disordered in function, structure, or condition

My leg was propped up on a library chair at the time, as it was too deranged to bend.

—Cynthia Gorney

But other work indicates that, in addition, the B lymphocytes of lupus patients are inherently deranged …

—Moncef Zouali

deranged

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of derange

Synonyms of deranged

Adjective

• psychotic
• insane
• mad
• maniacal
• crazy

Examples of deranged in a Sentence

Adjective

a deranged prisoner who had been in that rat-infested hole for 20 years

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

But the more productive expansion has to do with character, especially as regards Carrie and her mother, who is not the deranged, abusive religious fanatic of previous versions, but an essentially loving parent frightened of the modern world. — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Circlevillians turned on their city like a squadron of deranged geometers. — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

That leads them to stage a breakout with Knoxville’s character Bob, a deranged counselor who was supposed to hand them off to their parents, in hot pursuit. — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 25 Sep. 2026

The deranged belief that NFL referees assist the Chiefs would have fueled outrage on social media had the Chiefs won in that manner. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1743, in the meaning defined at sense 1