barmy
pronunciation
How to pronounce barmy in British English:
UK [ˈbɑ:mi]
How to pronounce barmy in American English:
US [ˈbɑrmi]
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- Adjective:
- marked by spirited enjoyment
- informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
Word Origin
- barmy (adj.)
- 1530s, "frothing, covered with barm;" see barm + -y (2). Figurative sense of "excited, flighty, bubbling with excitement" is from c. 1600. Meaning "foolish" (1892) is probably an alteration of balmy.
Example
- 1. At first sight , the idea seems barmy .
- 2. Squeezing the economy harder in order to hit it is barmy .
- 3. The state 's budget last month reimposed a barmy entry tax on goods from elsewhere in india .
- 4. What once seemed a canny convergence play now looks like a barmy risk , for both the borrowers and the banks , chiefly italian and austrian , that lent to them .
- 5. This week an official from the us state department stated publicly what the president 's aides have been saying privately for some time : prime minister david cameron is barmy to be talking about a referendum that could detach britain from europe .