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stir-crazy

/ˈstʌrˌkreɪzi/
IPA guide

Other forms: stir-crazier; stir-craziest

If you're living in a small cabin in the woods, and it pours rain for three days straight, you're likely to get a bit stir-crazy from being cooped up inside. You'll likely be even stir-crazier if there are five of you in there, including one crying baby!

Stir-crazy is from the late 1930s. It began as prison slang, used to describe inmates who suffer genuine mental illness as a result of being confined in a cell for a long period. However, its use was quickly extended to describe the restless, anxious, or uneasy feeling that anybody who is shut up indoors, or isolated from other people, might get. A stay-at-home parent with small children might feel a little stir-crazy from time to time, especially if they can't get out and interact with other adults.

Definitions of stir-crazy
  1. adjective
    mentally unwell from being confined in a small space, such as a prison cell
  2. adjective
    restless, tense, or irritable from being cooped up indoors or isolated from other people
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