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View synonyms for maniac

maniac

[ mey-nee-ak ]

noun

  1. a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.
  2. any intemperate or overly zealous or enthusiastic person:

    a maniac when it comes to details.



adjective

maniac

/ ˈmeɪnɪˌæk /

noun

  1. a wild disorderly person
  2. a person who has a great craving or enthusiasm for something

    a football maniac

  3. obsolete.
    psychiatry a person afflicted with mania


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Word History and Origins

Origin of maniac1

First recorded in 1595–1605, maniac is from the Medieval Latin word maniacus of, pertaining to madness. See mania, -ac

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Word History and Origins

Origin of maniac1

C17: from Late Latin maniacus belonging to madness, from Greek

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Example Sentences

He was hardly reassured when members of the university’s board of trustees, following a special executive meeting convened by the governor in March, described Wallace as “scared,” “crazy,” and acting “like a raving maniac.”

From Time

It would almost be less disturbing if he was showing some kind of sign he was a homicidal maniac.

Of course, Kim Jong-Un takes an image hit as a Katy Perry-obsessed, margarita-drinking maniac with daddy issues.

For as much as Walter was a maniac, he was at the forefront of printing art.

Tom Sizemore is, it seems, no longer a maniac—but he's convinced he can still play one onscreen.

“It fell out of the window, I think,” says the little maniac.

There, in the crush, he unceremoniously lost her, and sped like a maniac to the entrance gates.

On each side of the driver of the galloping steeds stood a man, shouting like a maniac of the boatswain type.

We do not blame the maniac who burns a house down and brains a policeman, nor the mad dog who bites a minor poet.

I regard Lucrezia Borgia as a homicidal maniac, and Torquemada as a religious maniac.

But Lasseroe was a maniac now and he wanted to take the life away from the jewelry designer.

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