scatty

adjective

scat·​ty ˈska-tē 

scattier; scattiest

1

chiefly British, informal : eccentric, odd

As in Watson's fiction generally, the tone fluctuates from the agreeably scatty to the tiresomely manic.

—Colin Greenland

2

chiefly British, informal : scatterbrained

She did, however, complete five physics papers and, being scatty, sent them—one after the other—to the wrong email address.

—Ron Liddle

Synonyms

• balmy
• barmy [chiefly British]
• bats
• batty
• bedlam
• bonkers
• brainsick
• bughouse [slang]
• certifiable
• crackbrained
• cracked
• crackers
• crackpot
• cranky [dialect]
• crazed
• crazy
• cuckoo
• daffy
• daft
• demented
• deranged
• fruity [slang]
• gaga
• haywire
• insane
• kooky
• kookie
• loco [slang]
• loony
• looney
• loony tunes
• looney tunes
• lunatic
• mad
• maniacal
• maniac
• mental
• meshuga
• meshugge
• meshugah
• meshuggah
• moonstruck
• non compos mentis
• nuts
• nutty
• psycho
• psychotic
• screwy
• unbalanced
• unhinged
• unsound
• wacko
• whacko
• wacky
• whacky
• wud [chiefly Scottish]

Examples of scatty in a Sentence

any number of individuals have been fingered as the scatty serial killer known to history as Jack the Ripper

Recent Examples on the Web

A lot of her frenetic, scatty energy came from Bronte Carmichael, who was the voice performer for Robin. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 21 Jan. 2024

And Eve’s a bit scatty and all over the place, and Villanelle’s so lush and confident. —David Kamp, WSJ, 5 Nov. 2018

Word History

Etymology

probably from scatterbrain + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined at sense 1