1
often offensive
: mentally unsound : insane sense 1b
—not used technically
2
sometimes offensive
: wildly odd or eccentric
His life was crowded, rather than peacefully isolated, and certainly never of an Olympian detachment, even though he was capable of quite deranged gestures of show-offy extravagance—such as buying an enormous house, more suitable for a banker than a painter …—
Robert Hughes
Robert HughesOr you could take part in a deranged computer game where you had to cycle after a huge beach ball, scoop it up and throw it through a hoop, scoring points for each goal.—Natasha Ellis
Natasha Ellis3
dated, now sometimes offensive
: disturbed or disordered in function, structure, or condition
My leg was propped up on a library chair at the time, as it was too deranged to bend.—Cynthia Gorney
Cynthia GorneyBut other work indicates that, in addition, the B lymphocytes of lupus patients are inherently deranged …—Moncef Zouali
Moncef ZoualiSynonyms of deranged
Examples of deranged in a Sentence
a deranged prisoner who had been in that rat-infested hole for 20 years
Recent Examples on the Web
But his heart never leaves these people, and the experience of reading him is of a singular, wry, unstinting sympathy especially for characters at their most blockheaded or deranged.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
The film follows Eileen who, reeling from a breakup, enrols in an intense gym class run by a charismatic but deranged coach.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 9 Feb. 2026
Last year’s relentlessly twisty The Girlfriend, on Prime Video, cast Olivia Cooke as a slightly unhinged working-class striver at odds with her upper-crust boyfriend’s even more deranged mother (Wright).
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Dano is known to play deranged narcissists, but is clearly beloved by those who work with him.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deranged
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Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
The film follows Eileen who, reeling from a breakup, enrols in an intense gym class run by a charismatic but deranged coach.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 9 Feb. 2026
Last year’s relentlessly twisty The Girlfriend, on Prime Video, cast Olivia Cooke as a slightly unhinged working-class striver at odds with her upper-crust boyfriend’s even more deranged mother (Wright).
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Dano is known to play deranged narcissists, but is clearly beloved by those who work with him.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deranged
Cite this Entry
“Deranged.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deranged. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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