1
as in dementia
a serious mental disorder that prevents one from living a safe and normal life
his incurable insanity requires that he spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in absurdity
a foolish act or idea
everyone laughed at the latest insanity from the town eccentric
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment
had the insanity to think that taking over a government building in protest of our foreign policy was a good idea
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insanity
The fear is that the damage will last long past this insanity.
—
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 22 Jan. 2026
Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 22 Jan. 2026
The stories are already finding their place in the pantheon of legendary Hollywood insanity.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Jan. 2026
Vulnerability, fragility, insanity, real innocence … but also confusion, depression, extreme hurt, anger … stuck in our heads.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for insanity
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 22 Jan. 2026
Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 22 Jan. 2026
The stories are already finding their place in the pantheon of legendary Hollywood insanity.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Jan. 2026
Vulnerability, fragility, insanity, real innocence … but also confusion, depression, extreme hurt, anger … stuck in our heads.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for insanity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insanity
Noun
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Bruce was diagnosed with dementia in 2023 and has been living separately from his family with full-time care since 2025, as the couple has two young girls living at home.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Under the program, younger inmates are trained to care for elderly prisoners living with dementia.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But the comedians also used those laughs to reveal the fundamental absurdity of violence and conflict.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Rather than focusing solely on superpowers, the series leans into the absurdities and insecurities of the entertainment industry, pulling back the curtain on fame, failure, and second chances.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Set into motion by an innocuous wish, the James family is forced to explore their generational differences, intra-marital conflicts, raging hormones, and professional anxieties, in a complicated web of body-swapping madness.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
27 Jan. 2026
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The documentary focuses on the inhabitants of Antarctica, and captures an apparent moment of madness within a colony of Adélie penguins, who endure scathingly harsh conditions in the icy wasteland.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Or perhaps that is the concern conjured by the hysteria of Y2K—with its fads of fears pumped by a skepticism over technology and wars people could not hold so freshly after the recession of the early 1990s.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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However, after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese hysteria spread across the United States.—
Jessica Alvarado Gamez,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Huw just spazzes out most of the time, and Patrick is incredibly transparent and succeeds more because of luck and the stupidity of others rather than his own intellect.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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My love of the theater and my love of the people who dedicate their life to creativity and the kind of highs and lows of that life, and the silliness and stupidity of that life, and the moments of elegiac grace.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The third, set in prehistoric times, is dazzling in its simplicity and dramatic rigor, and could’ve easily done without the others.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
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The low-to-the-ground shoe was overall a showcase of streamlined simplicity with its lack of embellishment and glove-like fit.—
Jaden Thompson,
Footwear News,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The current edition, DSM-5-TR, contains more than 300 distinct mental disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder and alcohol use disorder.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
28 Jan. 2026
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But providers might not have enough information available to make a correct diagnosis; an emergency room doctor treating someone experiencing a psychotic episode likely doesn’t have the capacity to know if their diagnosis should be schizophrenia, bipolar I or something else.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Harry and Finis refused to play Jack Donahoe’s game of commenting on every idiocy that came across their desks.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
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Telling the story of the clashing egos and raging idiocy of the fictional Spinal Tap, Reiner both directed and starred as the filmmaker-within-the-film Marty DiBergi.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insanity. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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