deranged

adjective

de·​ranged di-ˈrānjd How to pronounce deranged (audio)
1
often offensive : mentally unsound : insane sense 1b
not used technically
2
: 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 : 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 derangedMoncef Zouali

Examples of deranged in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Here, a young fisherman washes up on a mysterious island, only to be captured by a deranged captain who is hunted by a dark hungry beast. John Hopewell, Variety, 5 Apr. 2023 Monday’s murder of six people, including three 9-year-olds, by a deranged attacker at a Christian primary school in Nashville is another sign of mental illness unleashed. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 29 Mar. 2023 Joe, constantly bickering and wrestling with his evil side (personified in his head as a deranged version of Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers), still around even after Joe killed the real Rhys Montrose), has decided to kill himself after Marianne seemingly died as his prisoner. Evan Romano, Men's Health, 10 Mar. 2023 In the first film of the franchise, Pattinson's Batman follows the trail of a deranged serial killer called the Riddler (Paul Dano) and uncovers corruption in Gotham, meeting the antiheroine Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) along the way. Charlotte Walsh, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2023 Jason seems much more human and vulnerable here, coming across as more like a deranged killer who's been living in the woods than an actual zombie. Brendan Morrow, The Week, 13 Jan. 2023 By replanting this narrative with small-town Southern roots into a Western self-reliance tale, while mixing in the deranged, the author has fashioned an eccentrically satisfying literary mash-up. Erik Gleibermann, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2023 In this action thriller directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Curtis stars as rookie cop Megan Turner, who engages in a game of cat and mouse with a deranged psychopath. Robert English, EW.com, 17 Mar. 2023 Some of the antagonists are the Vikings, the high-school football team, who are never not wearing their uniforms and who function as a deranged sendup of the patriarchy — think John Hughes villains played by the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deranged.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1771, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of deranged was in 1771

Dictionary Entries Near deranged

Cite this Entry

“Deranged.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deranged. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

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