as in psychotic
unable to think in a clear or sensible way
a thoughtful movie about a demented man trying to survive on the street
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Recent Examples of demented
Keem’s trademark yawp gave his early work a demented sense of propulsion.
—
Dylan Green, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
There are bodily fluids, jeering crowds, and demonic Punch and Judy puppets applauding through the chaos, giving the scene the air of a demented fairy tale.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2026
Last year’s Venice Film Festival premiered Yorgos Lanthimos’s demented sci-fi-adjacent drama Bugonia and Gus Van Sant’s crime thriller Dead Man’s Wire, while at the same time the Toronto International Film Festival was premiering Romain Gavras’s comic-epic Sacrifice.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for demented
Dylan Green, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
There are bodily fluids, jeering crowds, and demonic Punch and Judy puppets applauding through the chaos, giving the scene the air of a demented fairy tale.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2026
Last year’s Venice Film Festival premiered Yorgos Lanthimos’s demented sci-fi-adjacent drama Bugonia and Gus Van Sant’s crime thriller Dead Man’s Wire, while at the same time the Toronto International Film Festival was premiering Romain Gavras’s comic-epic Sacrifice.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for demented
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demented
Adjective
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Using marijuana also did not improve other mental health conditions such as anorexia nervosa; bipolar disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD; or psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, Wilson said.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
16 Mar. 2026
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Slovak adds a chicken-scratch guitar that sounds like Nile Rodgers stuck in a psychotic loop.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The first six years of the Black Crowes were insane to process.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2026
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An optimist and networker with Harpo Marx hair, he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2023 for helping invent the HTTPS encryption system and was among the first to take AI seriously, back when AI seemed even more insane.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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As often happens with Furze’s inventions, one wonders whether this goes beyond a mad backyard YouTube experiment.—
Omar Kardoudi
March 22,
New Atlas,
22 Mar. 2026
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The book is mad, and all the madder for being unsmilingly sincere.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Bones is a pretty stellar action heroine, if only for her rah-rah speeches and her maniacal laughter in the face of men who seek to control her.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
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Even when discussing this premise, his maniacal desire to win seeps through.—
Zach Berman,
New York Times,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The act provides ways for a victim to seek relief from being harmed by doxing, or the act of intentionally using another’s personally identifiable information, including social media profiles, without consent with the intent to harass, cause mental anguish or create fear of bodily harm or death.—
Michelle Mullins,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Mar. 2026
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De-stress on a daily basis to help your mental and emotional battery.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demented. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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