lunacy
/ˈluː.nə.si/noun
lunacy is spelled L-U-N-A-C-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lunacy means “A cyclical mental disease, apparently linked to the lunar phases” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lunacy is lunacies.
How many letters and syllables are in lunacy?
| Letters | 6: L-U-N-A-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lunacy?
Lunacy appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lunacy?
- UK /ˈluː.nə.si/
- UK /ˈljuː.nə.si/
- US /ˈluː.nə.si/
Lunacy has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lunacy.ogg, En-au-lunacy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lunacy
- lunacies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lunacy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A cyclical mental disease, apparently linked to the lunar phases.
- 2
Insanity implying legal irresponsibility.
- 3
Something deeply misguided.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lunacy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense state of being mad:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | folie |
| German | Verrücktheit, Wahnsinn |
| Spanish | locura, lunatismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lunacy come from?
From lun(atic) + -acy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).