Meshuggener

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person regarded as foolish, eccentric, or completely unhinged, a term borrowed from Yiddish slang
2. Someone whose behavior seems wildly irrational or odd, often used humorously or affectionately in informal speech
3. An informal Yiddish-derived term for a crazy, strange, or eccentric individual who acts in unusual ways

Etymology: "Meshuggener" is a Yiddish noun meaning "lunatic," and it is built on the adjective "meshuge," "crazy." The adjective comes from Hebrew "meshugga," which describes someone who has been driven mad or confused, and Yiddish turned it into a living stock of insults. The noun adds the suffix "-ener," which in Yiddish forms a person-noun from a base word, so the whole word amounts to "one who is crazy." English borrowed the noun from Yiddish, where it sits alongside the more familiar "meshuge." Those who use it in English usually reach for it as a colourful term of mild disparagement rather than a clinical description, and it tends to stay within the Yiddish-influenced vocabulary of American English.

Synonyms: meshuga, meshugga