maniac

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noun

ma·​ni·​ac ˈmā-nē-ˌak 

plural maniacs

1

informal : someone who is or acts mentally unsound

especially : a person who behaves in a wildly foolish, reckless, or dangerous manner

Don't drive like a maniac.

There was a high wire strung from one shore to the other and some maniac in ballet slippers and tights was walking the wire …

—E. L. Doctorow

In The Bat Whispers the heroine is sealed in a dark room with a homicidal maniac.

—Scott MacQueen

2

informal : a person who is extremely enthusiastic about something

a sports maniac

Comic book maniacs and superhero look-alikes gathered at the Cross County Mall in suburban West Palm Beach to buy, sell and talk about the arcane world of comics.

—Stefan Fatsis

maniac

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adjective

ma·​ni·​ac ˈmā-nē-ˌak 

less common variant of maniacal

1

: affected with or suggestive of madness

maniacal laughter

maniacal energy

a maniacal killer

2

: characterized by ungovernable excitement or frenzy : frantic

a maniacal mob

maniacal fans

Synonyms

Noun

• bug
• crackbrain
• crazy
• fool
• fruitcake
• head case
• loon
• loony
• lunatic
• nut
• nutcase
• nutter [British slang]
• psycho
• psychopath
• sickie
• sicko
• wacko
• whacko

Examples of maniac in a Sentence

Noun

He's a complete maniac when he's playing football.

they should permanently put away the maniac who is responsible for these kidnappings

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Accordingly, Slow Horses has worked hard to feed into his persona, offering a slow trickle of wordless shots or small scenes of Harkness while gassing up his reputation as an assassin, a terrorist, and an all-around maniac. —Scott Tobias, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2024

And finally, Matador is readying the next batch of catalog reissues from legendary psychedelic/psychotic maniacs Butthole Surfers. —Jason Pettigrew, SPIN, 21 Nov. 2024

Adjective

At first glance, Torres’ debut film seems like a quirky, millennial visual feast about a desperate El Salvadorian and a maniac artist. —The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2024

None of this pays off in any fashion, as potentially interesting plot threads are rapidly dropped in favor of a typical maniac plot. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 25 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French maniaque "mad, frenzied," (as noun) "madman, lunatic," borrowed from Medieval Latin maniacus (as both noun and adjective), going back to Late Latin, "mad, maniacal," borrowed from Late Greek maniakós, from Greek manía "madness, frenzy, mania" + -akos, variant of -ikos -ic entry 1 before a vowel

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1763, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing maniac

• like a maniac

Kids Definition

maniac

noun

ma·​ni·​ac ˈmā-nē-ˌak 

1

: madman, lunatic

2

: a person wildly enthusiastic about something