delirate means to act, speak or reason in a manner thought insane, to be affected or characterized by delirium; to rave. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
delirate is pronounced /ˈdɛlɪɹeɪt/.
Why “delirate” is a great word
DELIRATE — [Verb] To speak or act as if insane, especially due to the incoherence and hallucinations of delirium; to rave. From Latin dēlīrātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlīrō ("to be deranged, to rave"), from dē- ("away from") + līra ("furrow"), thus literally "to go off the furrow, to deviate from a straight line"; first attested in English in 1623. Unlike "rave," which suggests wild but not necessarily feverish speech, or "rant," which implies bombastic, self-indulgent vehemence, to delirate is to articulate a private fever-logic, utterly derailed from the track of reason. It is the sweat-soaked mutter that names the ceiling cracks as enemies, the fumbling hand batting at phantoms only it can see, the eyes fixed on a private riot in the empty air—a stark testament to how thin the furrow is that separates a coherent self from the wild field.
verb
- To act, speak or reason in a manner thought insane, to be affected or characterized by delirium; to rave.
- To madden, to make crazy.