LUNACY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does lunacy mean? 

• LUNACY (noun)
  The noun LUNACY has 2 senses:

1. obsolete terms for legal insanity

2. foolish or senseless behavior

  Familiarity information: LUNACY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LUNACY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Obsolete terms for legal insanity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

insaneness; lunacy; madness

Hypernyms ("lunacy" is a kind of...):

insanity (relatively permanent disorder of the mind)

Derivation:

lunatic (insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Foolish or senseless behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

craziness; folly; foolery; indulgence; lunacy; tomfoolery

Hypernyms ("lunacy" is a kind of...):

caper; frolic; gambol; play; romp (gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lunacy"):

meshugaas; mishegaas; mishegoss ((Yiddish) craziness; senseless behavior or activity)

buffoonery; clowning; frivolity; harlequinade; japery; prank (acting like a clown or buffoon)

Derivation:

lunatic (insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon)

 Context examples 

The result seems to indicate that it was so, since in the first case only the woman, who had presumably the more sensitive organism, was killed, the others exhibiting that temporary or permanent lunacy which is evidently the first effect of the drug.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Listen to this: It is satisfactory to know that there can be no difference of opinion upon this case, since Mr. Lestrade, one of the most experienced members of the official force, and Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the well-known consulting expert, have each come to the conclusion that the grotesque series of incidents, which have ended in so tragic a fashion, arise from lunacy rather than from deliberate crime.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)