Word of the Day : January 12, 2022

stir-crazy

play

adjective STER-KRAY-zee

Prev Next

What It Means

Stir-crazy means "distraught because of prolonged confinement."

// Guests at the ski lodge began going stir-crazy after Day 3 of being snowed in by the blizzard.

See the entry >

stir-crazy in Context

"Trying to decide what to do with stir-crazy Vermont kids in winter? Maybe they are home from school on break … and want easy, indoor winter fun. There are a variety of places and attractions that will let your child's creativity, imagination and energy soar, away from the confines of their regular space." — April Barton, The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, 10 Dec. 2021

Did You Know?

Stir-crazy originated as a word to describe a prisoner who became distraught after prolonged confinement. Stir is a 19th-century slang word for "prison" that some word historians have suspected to be from Romani stariben, of the same meaning. But a convincing argument of that origin has yet been made. Today, stir-crazy describes any person who has become restless, agitated, or anxious from being or feeling entrapped in some place.