insane

\in.sɛjn\

/\in.sɛjn\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“insane” is uncommon French (frequency #63,082 among 3,561 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,082
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fou, insensé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-insane · insane · French

insane · rank #63,082 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,082
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH inoccupée

Nearest frequency peer: inoccupée (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « insane »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « insane » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for insane
PropertyValue
Headwordinsane
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\in.sɛjn\
Letters6
Frequency rank#63,082
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « insane » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.insanetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « inoccupée » (#63,081), « insonorisation » (#63,083), « initient » (#63,080). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « insane » est au #63,082. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

insane is uncommon French at frequency #63,082 among 3,561 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \in.sɛjn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Fou, insensé.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for insane, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is insane, spelled I-N-S-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fou, insensé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how insane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Perdus le large et sa tragique liberté, Ce sont les effrayants ravins sombres des rues Où des misères matinales fluent, Lentes, craintives, comme hébétées, En rivulets humains avant les noires crues, Des heures d’insane et cruelle activité.
  2. Cette nuit à la radio, je reconnais immédiatement l’accent bourguignon de mon vieux maître Gaston Bachelard. Il est malheureusement sans cesse interrompu par un petit crétin qui lui pose des questions insanes.

This word in other languages

insane(English)demente(Español)wahnsinnig(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "insane"?
"insane" is spelled I-N-S-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \in.sɛjn\.
What does "insane" mean?
As an adjective, "insane" means: Fou, insensé.
How do you pronounce "insane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "insane" is \in.sɛjn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "insane" come from?
"insane" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "insane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Jabbar#63,105jacque#63,106huppés#63,056Huguet#63,054

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list