1
as in insanity
a foolish act or idea
you want to sneak into the building after the alarm is set—what lunacy!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dementia
a serious mental disorder that prevents one from living a safe and normal life
the judge ruled that the lunacy of the accused made him incompetent to stand trial
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment
was it desperation or lunacy that caused him to quit his job and move to California without any plan for what to do when he got there?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lunacy
The Halloween special was tailor-made for a series like Rocko’s Modern Life, which traded deftly in a mix of lunacy and oddly poignant earnestness.
—
Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Yang is genius not just for playing the easy pickins of George Santos but high-concept lunacy like a gay oompaloompa and the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.
—Steven Zeitch, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2025
Rooker unsurprisingly embraces the lunacy of his character, who dresses in Native American drag and tastes bird poop to track his prey.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2025
Ultimately the inevitable showdown between Hutch and the Queen Bee that Stone embodies also works, not just for the inventive bloodletting, but also the LOL lunacy of it all.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lunacy
Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Yang is genius not just for playing the easy pickins of George Santos but high-concept lunacy like a gay oompaloompa and the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.
—Steven Zeitch, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2025
Rooker unsurprisingly embraces the lunacy of his character, who dresses in Native American drag and tastes bird poop to track his prey.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2025
Ultimately the inevitable showdown between Hutch and the Queen Bee that Stone embodies also works, not just for the inventive bloodletting, but also the LOL lunacy of it all.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lunacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lunacy
Noun
-
What’s that old saying about the definition of insanity.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
25 Jan. 2026
-
In that case, Bojeh was found not guilty by reason of insanity and later released under conditional supervision.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Advertisement Aster keenly satirizes Joe’s idiocy in the face of social upheaval through the iconography of Westerns.—
Robert Daniels,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Of course, no Kojima title would be complete with a little bit of craziness, but even the more far-out aspects of the game make more sense and are a thrilling part of the journey.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
29 Dec. 2025
-
Eric had to absorb a lot of her craziness and unspent love.—
Benjamin Markovits,
The Atlantic,
21 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lunacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lunacy. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
