unhinged

adjective

un·​hinged ˌən-ˈhinjd 

: highly disturbed, unstable, or distraught

attacked by an unhinged extremist

Somewhere along the way, her pursuit of a hot guy turned into unhinged obsession.

—Cosmopolitan

"Is this a new brand of humour? Or is your brain really unhinged?" inquired Tommy.

—Agatha Christie

see also unhinge

Synonyms

• balmy
• barmy [chiefly British]
• bats
• batty
• bedlam
• bonkers
• brainsick
• bughouse [slang]
• certifiable
• crackbrained
• cracked
• crackers
• crackpot
• cranky [dialect]
• crazed
• crazy
• cuckoo
• daffy
• daft
• demented
• deranged
• fruity [slang]
• gaga
• haywire
• insane
• kooky
• kookie
• loco [slang]
• loony
• looney
• loony tunes
• looney tunes
• lunatic
• mad
• maniacal
• maniac
• mental
• meshuga
• meshugge
• meshugah
• meshuggah
• moonstruck
• non compos mentis
• nuts
• nutty
• psycho
• psychotic
• scatty [chiefly British]
• screwy
• unbalanced
• unsound
• wacko
• whacko
• wacky
• whacky
• wud [chiefly Scottish]

Examples of unhinged in a Sentence

destined to become one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, he apparently became unhinged as a result of being abandoned as a young teen

Recent Examples on the Web

Hall's character has endured through outrageous circumstances as falling out of a window, hysterical amnesia, kidnapping, being targeted by serial killers, being replaced by an unhinged lookalike, surviving a plane crash and not one but two demonic possessions. —Scott Huver, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024

As an unhinged antagonist, Dementus has his roguish charms, vaingloriously crossing the sands like Ben Hur on a chariot pulled by three motorcycles. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined above