1
as in insanity
a foolish act or idea
you want to sneak into the building after the alarm is set—what lunacy!
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2
as in dementia
a serious mental disorder that prevents one from living a safe and normal life
the judge ruled that the lunacy of the accused made him incompetent to stand trial
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3
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment
was it desperation or lunacy that caused him to quit his job and move to California without any plan for what to do when he got there?
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Examples of lunacy in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Sure, but there’s a gleeful lunacy to Weird Science that’s pretty impressive, especially as the boys’ messing with mother nature get more and more out of control, and some memorable supporting performances by Robert Downey Jr. and Bill Paxton.
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Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 6 June 2024
As the economist Joseph Stiglitz has noted, this is onerous in normal times, unwise during business-cycle downturns, and outright lunacy in the face of the urgent, large-scale investments needed to fight climate change.
—Felicia Wong, Foreign Affairs, 16 Nov. 2021
In its earlier days, its satire hit our funny bones by exaggerating the absurdities of our existences into unlikely lunacies.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 3 May 2024
Isolated from her people in a garish palace, there’s some logic in Elena seeking out someone like Herbert as an anchor, but his quirks merely add to the lunacy, clouding who’s really manipulating whom.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lunacy 
Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 6 June 2024
As the economist Joseph Stiglitz has noted, this is onerous in normal times, unwise during business-cycle downturns, and outright lunacy in the face of the urgent, large-scale investments needed to fight climate change.
—Felicia Wong, Foreign Affairs, 16 Nov. 2021
In its earlier days, its satire hit our funny bones by exaggerating the absurdities of our existences into unlikely lunacies.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 3 May 2024
Isolated from her people in a garish palace, there’s some logic in Elena seeking out someone like Herbert as an anchor, but his quirks merely add to the lunacy, clouding who’s really manipulating whom.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lunacy
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lunacy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Lunacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lunacy. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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