maniac
Americannoun
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a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.
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any intemperate or overly zealous or enthusiastic person.
a maniac when it comes to details.
adjective
noun
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a wild disorderly person
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a person who has a great craving or enthusiasm for something
a football maniac
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obsolete psychiatry a person afflicted with mania
Etymology
Origin of maniac
First recorded in 1595–1605, maniac is from the Medieval Latin word maniacus of, pertaining to madness. See mania, -ac
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’m more aficionado than maniac, but I find them endlessly listenable, rewatchable — they just look great, for one thing — and interesting.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025
“And I’m not some crazed maniac set out to destroy this nation.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2023
"He's a maniac, but to me he was absolutely believable," Arkin once said of the character.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2023
"Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some issues as far as I am concerned," Kean said.
From Reuters • May 3, 2023
“But she’s still sticking up for it! It’s a maniac, and she won’t hear a word against it!”
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
