batty en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- [ˈbæɾi] (US)
- /ˈbæti/ (UK)
- /ˈbæti/ (US)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From bat + -y. In sense “insane”, attested 1903, from expression have bats in one's belfry, from tendency of bats to fly around erratically. Compare also batshit (“insane”) and squirrelly (“jumpy, eccentric”).
Meanings
-
(slang) Mad, crazy, silly.
On Sunday’s David Frost Show, Baroness Thatcher looked quite batty to me, eyes rolling.
1992 July 6, Edwina Currie, Diary:He had left too fast. He must have seen the girl. He couldn't be sure she was too batty to see him.
1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, →ISBN, page 42:
-
(obsolete) Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).
And from each other look thou lead them thus Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| battier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| battiest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (18)
de verrückt (mad, crazy, silly) · fr fou (mad, crazy, silly) · pl szurnięty (mad, crazy, silly) · it matto (mad, crazy, silly) · grc τρηρός (mad, crazy, silly) · ja 突飛 (mad, crazy, silly) · got 𐍅𐍉𐌸𐍃 (mad, crazy, silly) · nl mal (mad, crazy, silly) · fi pöllö (mad, crazy, silly) · cs praštěný (mad, crazy, silly) · cs prdlý (mad, crazy, silly) · eo freneza (mad, crazy, silly) · it pazzo (mad, crazy, silly) · el τρελός (mad, crazy, silly) · cs trhlý (mad, crazy, silly) · ja 狂った (mad, crazy, silly) · fi höperö (mad, crazy, silly) · es loco (mad, crazy, silly)