▪ I. crazy, a.
(ˈkreɪzɪ)
Forms: 6–7 crasy, 6–8 crasie, (6 craesie), 7–8 crazie, 7– crazy.
[f. craze v. or n. + -y.]
1. Full of cracks or flaws; damaged, impaired, unsound; liable to break or fall to pieces; frail, ‘shaky’. (Now usually of ships, buildings, etc.)
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 51 If Aeolus with his blasts, or Neptune with his stormes chaunce to hit vppon the crasie bark. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 374 Or be their pipes untunable and craesie? 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 16 As a crazie pitcher which is vnfit to hold water. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. x. 151 With a crazy ship. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. ii. ii. I. 310 The house is crazy..and will not stand very long. 1844 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 119 The court was full of crazy coaches. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. ix. 336 An old crazy ship. |
† 2. Having the bodily health or constitution impaired; indisposed, ailing; diseased, sickly; broken down, frail, infirm.
Obs.| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 4 Remove not from the place where you be, sithence you are weake and crasie. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 89 Some better place, Fitter for sicknesse and for crasie age. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xv. (1632) 782 The King somewhat crasie, and keeping his Chamber. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 426 ¶2, I find my Frame grown crasie with perpetual Toil and Meditation. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 290 By a guarded mode of living..a very crazy constitution is frequently piloted into old age. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. II. ii. 33 An indulgence conceded to his little crazy body. |
3. fig. and
transf. a. Unsound, impaired, ‘shaky’; frail, infirm.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 3 Fraile and crasie mortall men, remembring wel their owne infirmitie. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 34 To keep up the floting carcas of a crazie and diseased Monarchy. 1647 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 29 Misdoubting what issue those his crasie evidences would find at the Common Law. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 60 The old And crazy earth has had her shaking fits More frequent. |
† b. Broken down in estate; ruined, bankrupt.
| 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 29 There sneaks a Hunger-starv'd Usurer in quest of a Crasie Citizen. |
4. a. Of unsound mind; insane, mad, demented, ‘cracked’. Often used by way of exaggeration in sense: Distracted or ‘mad’ with excitement, vehement desire, perplexity, etc., extremely eager, enthusiastic, etc. Phr.
to go crazy;
to be crazy about or for (a person), to be infatuated with, to be in love with.
| 1617 J. Chamberlain Let. in Crt. & Times Jas. I, II. 19 He was noted to be crazy and distempered before. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. Ep. Sidrophel 2 'Tis in vain To tamper with your crazy brain. 1732 Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 I. 407 ‘Lord, child, are you crazy?’ 1779 Mrs. Thrale in Mad. D'Arblay Diary & Lett. May, Mr. Murphy is crazy for your play..do pray let me run away with the first act. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mariner vii. p. 47 The Pilot's boy, Who now doth crazy go, Laugh'd loud and long. 1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 271 All the world..were crazy to have their fortunes told. 1856 Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. i. 24 Lord George Gordon, a crazy fanatic, led the London mob to burn down Newgate. 1873 Dixon Two Queens IV. xix. ii. 7 Linked in a marriage without love..driving each other crazy with..mutual spite. 1892 H. Dacre Daisy Bell 5 Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer, do! I'm half crazy, All for the love of you! 1895 S. Hale Lett. (1919) 294 They were crazy that I should talk about the celebrated people I have known. 1898 Scribner's Mag. Oct. 447/2 He's crazy over this girl. 1904 R. L. McCardell Show Girl & Friends 35 You know everybody is just crazy about octets? 1917 Wodehouse Man with Two Left Feet 18, I love you. I'm crazy about you. 1926 J. Black You can't Win iii. 19 Well, if you're so crazy about a job, I'll make one for you. 1929 M. Lief Hangover 235 He was crazy in love with her and one moonlit night he proposed to her. 1930 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 21/1 At Royal Wimbledon..he went ‘crazy’, to use an inoffensive and common golfing phrase. His figures to the turn..a total of 30. 1932 Grace Perkins (title) Boy crazy. 1936 Bentley & Allen Trent's Own Case vii. 72 We were talking about Eunice Faviell..and the way so many men go crazy about her. 1949 Wodehouse Mating Season iii. 28 And the unfortunate part of it all is, Bertie, that I'm crazier about him than ever. 1962 J. Ludwig in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd Ser. (1968) 252 A Toronto deb-type, gorgeous, crazy for Jimmy, hot and burning. |
b. Of things, actions, etc.: Showing derangement of intellect; insane, mad.
| 1855 H. Melville Piazza Tales (1856) 425 Hopelessly infected with the craziest chimeras of his age. 1859 Sat. Rev. VII. 471/1 Crazy theories. 18.. Whittier Cassandra Southwick ix, By crazy fancies led. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 Oct. 5/1 The crazy wildness of his appeal. |
c. like crazy = like mad (
mad a. 1 c).
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1924 P. Marks Plastic Age xxiv. 288 She has been going an awful pace, tearing around like crazy. 1957 J. Osborne Entertainer v. 35 There she was, beating them with her umbrella like crazy. 1964 Punch 24 June 929/1 They're wooing us like crazy. 1968 Ibid. 28 Feb. 309/1 Here were all those guys consuming like crazy and having to be regularly restocked. |
d. slang (
orig. U.S.). (
a) Of music,
esp. jazz: unrestrained, wild; exciting. (
b) Hence as a term of approbation: excellent, admirable, satisfying.
Cf. cool a. 4 e.
| 1927 Melody Maker June 573/2 Leath has established her reputation as a..first-class artist in ‘Crazy Words, Crazy Tune’. 1933 Ibid. 2 Sept. 2 Arthur Roseberry Goes All ‘Crazy’. 1935 Hot News Apr. 13/1 He is a crazy player, and a crazier singer. Ibid., ‘Jamaica Shout’ is, I think, the craziest record. Ibid., Where musicians are concerned..if I say a man is crazy you may be sure that I think he is very, very good. 1953 [See cool a. 4 e]. 1956 New Yorker 8 Dec. 159 (Advt.), Hi Fi can turn your bachelor apartment into a Harem..and the crazy part is you don't have to be an engineer to operate H. H. Scott components. 1959 Punch 14 Oct. 319 The swing-cats sway, the hipsters tap their feet As Victor pounds his low-down crazy beat. 1962 J. Baldwin Another Country (1963) ii. iii. 274 She laughed. ‘Black Label [Scotch]?’ ‘Crazy.’ |
e. crazy like (or as) a fox: very cunning or shrewd.
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1935 G. & S. Lorimer Heart Specialist vi. 164 ‘Is she drunk or crazy and is she a giraffe?..’ ‘Crazy as a fox,’ I said glumly. 1944 S. J. Perelman (title) Crazy like a fox. 1967 M. Procter Rogue Running xxv. 165 ‘Crazy,’ Martineau mused. ‘Crazy like a fox. And as hard to catch.’ 1969 D. Bagley Spoilers x. 294 I'm crazy like a fox... How much did I win from you..? |
f. In the
colloq. phr. crazy, mixed-up (kid, person, etc.), descriptive of one whose mind is driven distracted by conflicting and unresolved emotions. Also used of a confused situation.
| 1955 Melody Maker 30 July 6/2 Full of the most peculiar phrases..something else is a ‘crazy, mixed-up creep’. 1956 Punch 28 Nov. 653 We live in an age in which the Common Man is apt also to be a crazy, mixed-up personality. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xi. 106 As they say in the films, I'm just a crazy mixed-up kid. |
5. Used (after
crazy quilt) to denote a garden walk or pavement of irregular pieces of flat stone or tile,
esp. in
crazy paving; so (back-formation)
crazy-pave v.
trans.,
crazy-paved ppl. adj.| 1923 Daily Mail 13 Jan. 11 Stone walks, either crazy or rectangular. Ibid. 19 Feb. 6 Visitors will pass by old red brick and crazy paths to a sunk lawn. 1925 A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose iii. xvi, Under the blue tile..of the crazy-paving just by the rain-water butt. 1927 H. C. Bailey Mr. Fortune, Please 173 Along the house was a terrace with crazy pavement in which saxifrage grew. Ibid. 223 Mrs. Pemberton's garden was a pleasant place of crazy paving and rock plants. 1952 E. R. Janes Flower Garden 36 Probably the best form of crazy paving is the broken paving stones obtainable in some towns when stone pavements are replaced by asphalt. 1960 News Chron. 22 Apr. 8/6 Jimmy Gold is..getting ready to crazy-pave his front garden. 1963 Times 25 Feb. 14/5 Almost every room in the house has exposed oak beam ceilings and there is a small crazy-paved garden. |
6. Comb., as
crazy-headed adj.;
crazy-sensible,
crazy-wayed,
crazy-witty adjs. (nonce-wds.);
crazy ant (see
quot.);
crazy Betty (see
quot.:
cf. crayse);
crazy bone (
U.S.), the ‘funny-bone’;
crazy flying, aerobatics performed near the ground;
Crazy Foam orig. U.S., the name (proprietary in the
U.S.) of a type of soap for children which is sold as pressurized foam in an aerosol container; also used as a plaything and for practical jokes;
crazy quilt (
orig. U.S.), a patchwork quilt made of pieces of stuff of all kinds in fantastic patterns or without any order; also
attrib. and
fig.; so
crazy patchwork,
crazy-work.
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 132 Another curious variety is appropriately called the ‘*crazy ant’. He always seems to be in a violent hurry..moving forwards, backwards, and sideways in the most purposeless and insane manner. |
| 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 24 Where to find the first ‘*crazy Betties’..These are the marsh marigolds. |
| 1880 Webster Supp., *Crazy-bone..so called on account of the intense pain produced when it receives a blow. |
| 1922 Flight XIV. 372/2 The next item was the extraordinary exhibition of ‘*crazy’ flying..on a jazzified Avro. 1940 N. Monks Squadrons Up! 162 To lift that gold cup for the crazy-flying event. |
| 1965 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 13 Apr. tm84/1 Aerosol Corporation of America, Clifton, N.J. Filed Nov. 8, 1963. *Crazy Foam. For bath soap in toy shaped container. First use Aug. 19, 1963. 1976 West Lancs. Even. Gaz. 13 Dec. 11/2 (Advt.), Bill's House of Jokes, Party Poppers, Crazy Foam, [etc.]. 1984 S. Townsend Growing Pains A. Mole 131 Drunken youths covered in ‘crazy foam’ and factory girls wearing tinsel garlands paraded around the town singing carols. |
| 1716 J. Long Assize Serm. Govt. 3 *Crazy-headed people. |
| 1885 Harper's Mag. Mar. 531/2 Alternate stripes of ‘*crazy patchwork’ embroidered on crimson turcoman. |
| 1821 Blackw. Mag. IX. 61 The *crazy-pate banker. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 12 Nov. 6/2 What is generally called ‘*crazy quilt’ in the States and patchwork in England. 1888 Boston Evening Jrnl. 20 June, A Washington letter gives a clever sketch of the conversation which recently took place at the house of a matron who receives a hundred or two of people on the afternoon of ‘her day’. ‘Crazy quilt conversation’, the hostess declared it to be. 1890 Century Mag. May 47/1 As uncertain in marking as the pattern of a crazy-quilt. 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed 49 The present system is a mere crazy-quilt, quite unsatisfactory in a thousand ways. 1946 W. S. Maugham Then & Now xxii. 118 Machiavelli's emotions were as various as the colours of a crazy quilt. 1958 Listener 13 Nov. 765/1 Can anything but crazy-quilt legislation emerge from a chamber exposed to pressures such as these? 1963 Economist 28 Sept. 1121/3 The crazy-quilt redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. |
| 1923 D. H. Lawrence Let. 24 Sept. (1962) II. 754 California is..sort of *crazy-sensible. |
| 1957 J. Kerouac On Road (1958) 164 So amazingly himself, all raging and sniffy and *crazy-wayed. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xiii. 92 He's too *crazy-witty for my sanity. |
Add:
[6.] crazy ant, substitute for
def.: any of several ants that exhibit very fast or erratic movement,
esp. Prenolepsis longicornis, native to tropical regions. (Later examples.)
| 1905 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. XXI. 111 Prenolepsis longicornis... This tropicopolitan species which is common in New Providence..but very sporadic on the eastern coast of Andros.., occurs in houses and is known as the ‘crazy ant’ on account of its singular erratic movements. 1915 C. A. Ealand Insects & Man vi. 245 The Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis... The ant has received its popular name from the fact that Argentina is believed to be one, at least, of the countries in which it is native. At first it was called the ‘New Orleans ant’..; other names which have been suggested and dropped..are the ‘crazy ant’, the ‘tropical ant’, and the ‘pernicious ant’. 1971 E. O. Wilson Insect Societies xxi. 447/2 Paratrechina longicornis, the swift-running hormiga loca (crazy ant) found in tropical cities around the world, is an example of a class of species I have come to call ‘opportunists’. 1983 Listener 27 Oct. 16/3 Another new import is the long-legged ant, which is also called the Crazy Ant, which has appropriately turned up in a psychiatric hospital. |
▸
crazy golf n. golf played in an unusual manner or on a novel course;
spec. (chiefly
Brit.) a putting game played on a small, usually concrete, course, each hole of which involves negotiating a novelty obstacle;
cf. miniature golf n. at
miniature n. and
adj. Compounds 2,
Tom Thumb golf n. at
Tom Thumb n. Additions.
| 1936 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Northwestern 2 Sept. 11/7 Women members..were to assemble at the course today attired in unique costumes for the ‘*crazy’ golf tournament. 1948 Compl. Home Entertainer 416 Crazy Golf. This game requires more preparation, but it will be worth the trouble. 1988 G. Patterson Burning your Own (1993) 203 Mal was in defiant mood as he strode along the bottom of the crazy golf course and on to the frowzy sprawl of grass leading down to the dump. 2002 List (Glasgow & Edinb.) 4 July 94/1 Crazy golf has always been an odd phenomenon, peculiarly British in character and reminiscent of faded seaside towns. |
▪ II. crazy, adv. slang (chiefly
U.S.).
[f. the adj.] Extremely; ‘madly’.
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 9 July 2/2 He was crazy drunk in a saloon one night. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands i. 9 I'm just crazy gone on 'er. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel xi. 175 And here I was crazy anxious. 1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia xv. 176 Llorente is rabioso, crazy keen. |
▪ III. crazy, n. colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
(
ˈkreɪzɪ)
[f. the adj.] A mad or eccentric person.
| 1867 W. L. Goss Soldier's Story 30, I was addressed as ‘old crazy’ by my companions, and told to keep still. 1884 ‘C. E. Craddock’ In Tenn. Mts. 46 They take some crazies at the State's expense. 1945 G. Millar Maquis i. 6 There were many crazies in the organisation. It said much for the officers at the top that the crazies were permitted. 1969 Guardian 22 Feb. 2/6 There's no leadership at all. All this is being done by the street crazies. |
▪ IV. crazy a buttercup: see
crayse.