demented

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparablemedical

   Suffering from dementia, a serious illness in which memory, thinking, and behavior gradually decline.

   Grammar: Clinical use is formal and usually replaced today with phrases such as a person with dementia.

   Patterns

   • become demented
   • a demented patient

   Doctors found that many of the elderly patients were demented.

   The disease left her father increasingly demented.

   Studies track which adults become demented in later life.

2. 2adjectivecomparableinformaloffensive

   Wildly irrational or crazy in behavior or ideas, often used loosely or for exaggeration.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a demented plan. It can offend people affected by dementia, so use with care.

   Patterns

   • a demented laugh
   • sound demented

   The villain let out a demented laugh.

   Her demented schedule left no time to rest.

   The cat raced around the house in a demented frenzy.

Common combinations

demented laughter

Demented laughter echoed down the hall.

seem demented

His wild ideas seemed demented to the board.

severely demented

The report described the patient as severely demented.

demented grin

He flashed a demented grin at the camera.

Synonyms and how they differ

deranged

Deranged describes someone whose mind is disturbed and acts wildly, but it does not refer to the illness of dementia.

insane

Insane is an informal or old-fashioned word for crazy, and it can be applied to extreme situations too.

frenzied

Frenzied describes wild, excited activity rather than a state of mind.

senile

Senile points to mental decline caused by old age and now sounds outdated and unkind.

Opposites

Word family

dementia noun

a disease causing loss of memory and reasoning

dement verb

to drive mad (rare)

dementedly adverb

in a wildly irrational way

Commonly confused: demented or dementia?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “demented”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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