Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Mentally disturbed or insane: Describes a person whose mind is severely disordered, making them unable to think or act rationally or normally.
   • Out of order; not functioning correctly: (Less common, often technical) Describes a system, especially a mechanical one, that is not working properly or is in a state of disarray.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective (Mentally disturbed):

  • The deranged man was shouting at people on the street.
  • She was declared mentally deranged and unfit to stand trial.
  • The killer's actions were clearly those of a deranged individual.

• Adjective (Out of order, technical):

  • The deranged gears caused the entire machine to seize up.
  • A deranged alignment in the optical system will distort the image.

Advanced Usage

• "to be deranged": to be in a state of severe mental illness.
  • He was completely deranged by the trauma of the event.
• "deranged from": made insane by a specific cause.
  • He was deranged from grief after the loss.

Variants and Related Words

• Derange (verb): To disturb the order or functioning of; to make insane.
  • The shocking news seemed to derange him completely.
• Derangement (noun): The state of being deranged; mental disorder or a state of disorder.
  • The patient suffered from acute mental derangement.

Synonyms

• Insane: In a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction.
• Mad: Mentally ill; insane. (Can be informal or offensive).
• Unhinged: Mentally unbalanced; disturbed.
• Disturbed: Having or showing symptoms of mental or emotional illness.

Antonyms

• Sane: Of sound mind; not mentally ill.
• Rational: Based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
• Lucid: Expressed clearly; easy to understand. (Also: thinking clearly, especially in intervals between periods of confusion or insanity).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Deranged killer/murderer/individual: A common collocation emphasizing the perpetrator's severe mental disturbance in violent contexts.
  • The police were searching for the deranged killer.
• Of deranged mind: A formal or literary way to describe someone as insane.
  • The king, of deranged mind, issued bizarre decrees.

Adjective

1. driven insane