21 December 2025
How do you say that someone is crazy in German?
How do you say “crazy” in German?
The main word, which literally translates to something like “shifted out of place”, is verrückt.
A close second is wahnsinnig.
In common usage, the former is used to describe something very unusual and the latter to refer to something extremely large or intensive.
Older words for “mentally ill” are geisteskrank and geistesgestört - today they sound offensive; the neutral term is psychisch krank.
More Creative Ways
Other words in German are irre and toll (both with the alternate meaning of “great”) and irrsinnig.
Implying stupidity, the words are bescheuert, bekloppt and hirnverbrannt.
Someone who’s lost his mind is übergeschnappt.
In certain German regions närrisch is also common.
In the north you may hear mall, in the south spinnert, and in the Rhineland jeck.
The verb (as in “talking rubbish” or “being bonkers”) is spinnen. It literally means “to spin”, in the sense of weaving yarn.
Examples
Die Party war total verrückt! The party was totally crazy.
Das sind wahnsinnig niedrige Preise. Those are insanely low prices.
Er spinnt. He’s crazy.
Das ist ein tolles Buch. That’s a great book.
Deine Idee ist total bescheuert. Your idea is completely stupid/crazy.
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