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 2past tense and past participle of derange
Cite this Entry
“Deranged.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deranged. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.
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