Meaning & use
I'm going stir crazy
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Feeling very restless and frustrated because you have been stuck in one place or doing nothing for too long.
Grammar: Used with a form of be plus going: I'm going stir crazy. It is not followed by an object.
Patterns
- someone is going stir crazy
- someone was going stir crazy
- go stir-crazy
After three days of rain and no visitors, I'm going stir crazy in this apartment.
The kids were going stir crazy by the end of the long flight, so we let them walk up and down the aisle.
I love working from home, but by Friday I'm going stir crazy and need to see people.
phrasefixed phraseinformalfigurative
Becoming wild, excited, or unable to think calmly because of being kept in a small space.
Grammar: Often used about pets and animals kept indoors or in cages; can also be used humorously about people.
Patterns
- an animal is going stir crazy
- keep someone from going stir crazy
The dog has been going stir crazy all week because the yard is still too muddy for a walk.
We took the parrot out of its cage before it went stir crazy.
Common combinations
- be going stir crazy
- I've been going stir crazy waiting for the exam results.
- stuck indoors and going stir crazy
- Stuck indoors and going stir crazy, she started rearranging the furniture.
- go stir-crazy with someone
- The children go stir-crazy with each other when school is closed.
- keep someone from going stir crazy
- A daily phone call kept my grandmother from going stir crazy.
- be going stir crazy in a place
- He was going stir crazy in that tiny hotel room.
Synonyms and how they differ
- restless
- Restless is an adjective for the general feeling of not being able to settle; the phrase going stir crazy is stronger and suggests the feeling is building up toward losing patience.
- climbing the walls
- Climbing the walls is a similar informal idiom for extreme restlessness, but it sounds more dramatic and is often used about being trapped indoors.
- antsy
- Antsy is an informal adjective meaning nervous and unable to sit still; it can describe mild fidgeting, while going stir crazy usually means real frustration.
Opposites
Word family
- stir-crazy adjective
- Feeling restless and frustrated from being confined; used before or after a noun, as in a stir-crazy puppy or the students went stir-crazy.
- crazy adjective
- In this expression it means wildly restless or frantic, not mentally ill; on its own it is a very general word.
Commonly confused: I'm going stir crazy or cabin fever?
I'm going stir crazy vs cabin fever
Cabin fever is a noun for the same kind of restless feeling, so you say I have cabin fever, not I'm going cabin fever. The two are close in meaning but different in grammar.
Practice
Which sentence uses the expression correctly?
Choose one answer.
The expression needs a form of be + going (I'm going stir crazy) to describe how you feel now. Option 1 uses the wrong tense with yesterday, option 2 omits going, and option 3 adds a noun that the phrase does not take.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “I'm going stir crazy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.