Loony
/ˈluːni/noun
Informal: crazy, eccentric, or foolish.
Did you know?Loony is a clipped form of lunatic, and lunatic itself goes back to the Moon: Latin luna was once believed to influence madness, giving the word a real astrological shadow.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leuk-
“to shine, light up”
Latin
Latin
lūna
“the Moon”
Late Latin
Latin
lūnāticus
“moonstruck; affected by the Moon”
Middle English
English
lunatic
“a person thought to be mentally ill, especially one whose condition was believed to vary with the Moon”
19th Century
English
loony
“a colloquial shortening of lunatic, used for a crazy or foolish person”
Modern English
English
loony
“crazy, eccentric, or absurd”