Maniac

//ˈmeɪ.niˌæk// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An insane person, especially one who suffers from a mania.

    "She was driving like a maniac."

  2. 2
    an insane person wordnet
  3. 3
    A fanatic, a person with an obsession. figuratively

    "He's a manga maniac."

  4. 4
    a person who has an obsession with or excessive enthusiasm for something wordnet
  5. 5
    Ellipsis of sex maniac. Philippines, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
Adjective
  1. 1
    wildly disordered wordnet

Example

More examples

"I can understand German as well as the maniac that invented it, but I talk it best through an interpreter."

Etymology

From mania + -ac. Borrowed from French maniaque, from Late Latin maniacus, from Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós), adjectival form of μανία (manía, “madness”). Compare manic.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.