irre
German, adjective
irre is spelled I-R-R-E (4 letters) and appears 17 times per million words in written German, the 4,505th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Irre is a German adjective meaning “crazy, insane, mad, mental” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first-person singular present of irren. With a capital, Irre is a different word: “the state of being wrong: now only in adverbial phrase in die Irre”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “an einer Störung oder Fehlleistung des Geistes- und Seelenlebens (= Geisteskrankheit) leidend”.
What does irre mean in English?
adjective
- 1
crazy, insane, mad, mental
Sag mal, bist du völlig irre geworden?
- 2
slangcrazy, incredible, extreme
Der Wagen kam mit einer irren Geschwindigkeit um die Kurve.
verb
- 1
first-person singular present
- 2
first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- 3
singular imperative
noun
- 1
femininethe state of being wrong: now only in adverbial phrase in die Irre
- 2
femininefemale equivalent of Irrer: lunatic, madwoman
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. an einer Störung oder Fehlleistung des Geistes- und Seelenlebens (= Geisteskrankheit) leidend 2. sehr gut und beeindruckend 3. sehr, sehr groß, sehr bedeutend, sehr wichtig 4. nicht mehr so gut konzentriert, verwirrt
noun: 1. falsche Richtung, Irrweg; in die Irre gehen, fahren, führen usw.
noun: 1. weibliche Person, die an einer Psychose leidet, die verrückt ist
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of irre
- die Irre definite nominative
- Irrer genitive
- der Irren definite genitive
- die Irren definite plural
- Irren dative plural strong
- irrer masculine nominative singular
- am irrsten superlative
- irres neuter nominative singular
- irren genitive masculine singular
- irr variant
- irrem positive dative strong
- den Irren dative plural
- eine Irre nominative singular
- keine Irren nominative plural
- einer Irren genitive singular
- keiner Irren genitive plural
- keinen Irren dative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to irre
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is irre in German?
irre appears 17 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).