insane asylum
noun
Simple meaning
A hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnsaynuhsyluhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈseɪnəˈsaɪləm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person
dated
A facility where persons with serious mental disorders are housed.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person
In this sense, insane asylum is a very strong, expressive word and usually reads as a strong judgement about someone's behaviour or state of mind. In casual exaggeration — a fitness maniac, driving like a maniac — it can sound playful or admiring, but it still carries far more force than simply saying someone is keen.
- Emotional tone
- Context-dependent
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Very strong
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.