English Dictionary

Definition of “craze

craze (kreɪzPronunciation for craze

Definitions

noun

  1. a short-lived current fashion
  2. a wild or exaggerated enthusiasm  ⇒ a craze for chestnuts 
  3. mental disturbance; insanity

verb

  1. to make or become mad
  2. ceramics metallurgy to develop or cause to develop a fine network of cracks
  3. (tr) British archaic or dialect to break
  4. (tr) archaic to weaken

Word Origin

C14 (in the sense: to break, shatter): probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish krasa to shatter, ultimately of imitative origin

Usage examples

  • Her reputation was based on keeping up with the latest trends in the city and this latest craze was too good to miss.
    Pacter, Trudi, Yellow Bird (1993)
  • Sonia is more a picture of bereavement and withdrawal than of craze for power and glory.
    India Today (1997)
  • And they remembered a brother who spray-painted the family dog after doing the same to his shoes during a break-dancing craze.
    Edmonton Sun (2003)
  • The latest craze has introduced the ankle-biters to a new vocabulary.
    Sun, News of the World (2000)
  • The advent of the aerobics craze , popularized by Jane Fonda, has done much to empower women this century.
    Amoda, MOVING INTO ECSTASY: An Urban Mystic's Guide to Movement, Music and Meditation (2001)

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