Meshugener

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Yiddish-derived term for a person who is mad, eccentric, or behaves in a wild and senseless manner
2. An informal label for someone regarded as crazy, silly, or unreasonable in their conduct
3. Slang borrowed from Yiddish describing a person who seems deranged or who acts in an absurd, foolish way

Etymology: "Meshugener" is a Yiddish noun meaning a lunatic or madman, formed from the adjective "meshuge," meaning crazy. The noun carries the suffix "-ener," which in Yiddish marks a person associated with the thing named by the base word, so the form amounts to "one who is crazy." Yiddish "meshuge" itself has a longer history, but the noun is simply the person-form built on it. Its spelling varies: "meshuggener" with a double g is the more common written form, and both spellings reflect the same Yiddish word. In English use it appears in the same register as its base, a colloquial and often affectionate way of calling someone eccentric or unhinged rather than a clinical term.

Synonyms: lunatic, madman, nut, crackpot