nutcase
part of speech
noun (a nutcase, nutcases)
meaning for a pupil
1) (slang, unkind) A person who acts in a very silly, wild or crazy way. tree →
2) (slang, can be friendly) A fun, daft person, as in "You're a total nutcase!" among friends. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in informal talk and stories; it can be a joke between friends or an insult. It is unkind and hurtful to use about people with mental illness. In stories it shows the speaker is being rude or teasing.
examples
- "You're a nutcase!" laughed Tom as his friend jumped in the puddle. tree →
- Some nutcase drove the wrong way down the road. tree →
- My uncle is a lovable nutcase who dances everywhere. tree →
- Don't call people nutcases; it can hurt. tree →
- The dog went like a nutcase when it saw the ball. tree →
- Only a nutcase would swim in the sea in January! tree →
note
Informal and slang; never use in school writing. Similar slang: "nutter" (UK), "nut", "loony", all unkind. Kind language: avoid using these words about people who are ill.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «nutcase» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.