i Register
In some senses, barmy is marked as archaic, figuratively, informal, British. Watch for register when choosing this word.
barmy
UK /ˈbɑːmi/ US /ˈbɑɹmi/
adj 4
Collocations
5ADJ.
all
VERB + BARMY
heaped, think, thinks
BARMY + NOUN
beer, boss, crumpet, fellows, froth, hugo
PREP.
on
ADV.
completely, then
Definitions
adj
1
Containing, covered with, or pertaining to barm (“foam rising upon beer or other malt liquors when fermenting, used as leaven in brewing and making bread”).
[T]each thy Incubus to Poëtize, / And throvve abroad thy ſpurious Snotteries, / Vpon that puft-vp Lumpe of Barmy froth, […]
Their jovial Nights, in frollicks and in play / They paſs, to drive the tedious Hours avvay. / And their cold Stomachs vvith crovvn'd Goblets cheer, / Of vvindy Cider, and of barmy Beer.
2
Bubbling with activity or excitement; active, excited.
Just now I've taen the fit o' rhyme, / My barmie noddle's working prime, […]
adj
1
Crazy, mad; also, eccentric, odd, strange.
[T]he exercise yard of the "barmy fellows," as he called the madmen, (meaning, I suppose, that their brains were in an unnatural state of working,) was but a stone's throw from himself and his rational companions, […]
"Bli'me if I know wot yer all talkin' abaht. You're all barmy on the crumpet," said Liza indignantly, and, turning her back on them, made for home.
2
Very foolish.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
[T]each thy Incubus to Poëtize, / And throvve abroad thy ſpurious Snotteries, / Vpon that puft-vp Lumpe of Barmy froth, […]
Wiktionary02
Their jovial Nights, in frollicks and in play / They paſs, to drive the tedious Hours avvay. / And their cold Stomachs vvith crovvn'd Goblets cheer, / Of vvindy Cider, and of barmy Beer.
Wiktionary03
[H]e stood for a while on the quivering footbridge and watched the rush of dead wood and torn branches and wisps of straw all hurrying madly past him, to plunge into the heaped spume, the barmy froth
Wiktionary04
[T]he exercise yard of the "barmy fellows," as he called the madmen, (meaning, I suppose, that their brains were in an unnatural state of working,) was but a stone's throw from himself and his rationa
Wiktionary05
"Bli'me if I know wot yer all talkin' abaht. You're all barmy on the crumpet," said Liza indignantly, and, turning her back on them, made for home.
Wiktionary06
I thanked John [Bishop], said the "oracle award" sounds like a made-up prize you'd give a fat kid on sports day – I should know, I used to get them – then that it's barmy that Hugo Boss can trade unde
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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