bughouse

[ buhg-hous ]

noun

, plural bug·hous·es [buhg, -hou-ziz].

1. an insane asylum.

adjective

1. insane; crazy.

bughouse

/ ˈbʌɡˌhaʊs /

noun

1. a mental hospital or asylum

adjective

1. insane; crazy

Word History and Origins

Origin of bughouse¹

1890–95, Americanism; bug ¹ ( buggy ¹, bugs ) + house

Word History and Origins

Origin of bughouse¹

C20: from bug ¹+ ( mad ) house

Example Sentences

Pound entertained visiting poets and anti-Semites at St. Elizabeths, which he called “the Bughouse.”

From Washington Post

She also sold a middle-grade novel, coming in 2020; signed up as a consulting producer on W. Kamau Bell’s CNN series, “United Shades of America”; and began hosting a new podcast, “Bughouse Square,” inspired by the archives of another Chicago gadfly, Studs Terkel.

From New York Times

“Bughouse—that’s what this business is—bughouse!”

From Literature

Daniel Swift’s most recent book, “The Bughouse: The Poetry, Politics and Madness of Ezra Pound,” was published last fall.

From New York Times

Eventually, Price goes totally bughouse and tries to slice someone in half with a massive, swinging Cuisinart blade that he maintains in the cellar.

From Slate

Related Words

• mental health institution
• psychiatric hospital
• psychiatric ward