Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Crazy; senseless.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative form of meshugge.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective senseless; crazy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Yiddish meshuge, from Hebrew məšuggā‘, participle of šugga‘, to be mad; see šgע in Semitic roots.]

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Examples

  • Jamie Lee Curtis, Curtis 'daughter from his first marriage with "Psycho" actress Janet Leigh, teared up as she described a man who was, she said, "a little meshuga" – Yiddish for crazy – but always full of life.

    Tony Curtis Laid To Rest AP 2010

  • Jamie Lee Curtis, Curtis 'daughter from his first marriage with "Psycho" actress Janet Leigh, teared up as she described a man who was, she said, "a little meshuga" – Yiddish for crazy – but always full of life.

    Tony Curtis Laid To Rest AP 2010

  • Once you're aware of this meshuga (crazy) food on your plate, you may wonder why no one bothered to tell you that there are flounder parts (or RoundUp) in your Chopped Salad?

    Maria Rodale: The First Ever National Heirloom Exposition, Santa Rosa, California Maria Rodale 2011

  • With the advent of radio in the 1920's and 1930's America entered it's next phase of new media meshuga.

    Rich Nadworny: The Tone of the Debate Sounds... Familiar? 2009

  • In the February issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Robert D. Kaplan extrapolated from the implosion of public order in West Africa and posited a world slowly overwhelmed by sociopathic street gangs, each with its own charismatic gangsta-meshuga.

    The Threat Of Tribalism 2008

  • Kahane was a gangsta-meshuga, a nut case who could talk the talk.

    The Threat Of Tribalism 2008

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And their reaction was, as they said that I'm a little meshuga.

    CNN Transcript Oct 14, 2008 2008

  • Believe it or not, that's the insinuation of the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, the Arizona Democratic Party, the Arizona Republic, and countless blogosphere crackpots, some of whom have lumped Hayworth in with Malibu meshuga Mel Gibson and Gibson's tequila-fueled tirade against matzo-munchers worldwide.

    Archive 2006-08-01 2006

  • To their threats against the exploration of science, I say: just ignore the meshuga! buddha

    The Heresy of Nosson Slifkin - The Panda's Thumb 2005

  • Local Jewish politicians, community leaders, and clergy condemned Cohn and told him to stay away, that he was a meshuga, “a nut.”

    Sins of Two Fathers Denis Hamill 2003

Comments

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  • This is a hilarious word.

    March 27, 2007