Pottiest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting extreme eccentricity or madness to the highest degree ; showing signs of being wildly unreasonable or irrational at the utmost level ; characterized by the most intense form of foolishness or insanity
2. Marked by an extraordinary level of craziness or bizarre behavior ; demonstrating the greatest extent of absurdity or lunacy ; indicating the strongest expression of nonsensical or irrational conduct
3. Displaying the peak of odd or insane nature ; conveying the maximum intensity of mental instability or silliness ; representing the ultimate degree of irrational or irrationally foolish demeanor

Etymology: "Pottiest" is the superlative of "potty," and the surprise lies in how far "potty" has drifted from its physical origin. The base word is "pot," a vessel for cooking or holding things, which in English came to mean a chamberpot. Adding the diminutive suffix "-y" produced "potty," a childish or cosy word for a toilet or for a small chamber vessel, and that domestic sense is still the one that comes to mind first for many speakers. The leap to meaning "crazy" happened later and is a figurative extension. Once "potty" meant something small and lightweight, it could be used playfully for a person whose wits seemed a little unsettled, and from there it took on the sense of being slightly mad or wildly eccentric. The superlative "pottiest" follows the regular pattern for adjectives ending in "-y," with the final "y" changed to "-iest," so it simply intensifies that figurative sense.

Synonyms: craziest, most insane, most eccentric, most mad, most lunatic

Antonyms: sane, reasonable, rational, sensible, normal