batty

See also: Batty

English

Etymology 1

bat +‎ -y. In sense “insane”, attested 1903, from expression have bats in one's belfry,[1] from tendency of bats to fly around erratically. Compare also batshit (“insane”) and squirrelly (“jumpy, eccentric”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbæti/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈbæti/, [ˈbæɾi]
  • Rhymes: -æti

Adjective

batty (comparative battier, superlative battiest)

  1. (slang) Mad, crazy, silly.
  2. (obsolete) Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).
    • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
      And from each other look thou lead them thus
      Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
      With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Etymology 2

From bottom, possibly influenced by bawtie or butt.[2]

Alternative forms

Noun

batty (plural batties)

  1. (West Indian slang) The buttocks or anus.
  2. (Jamaica, Britain, derogatory) A homosexual man.
    • 1996, Rudi Bleys, The geography of perversion
      For example, recent Jamaican 'raga' lyrics by Buju Banton and Brand Nubian attach the affirmation of black identity to crude animosity towards homosexuality and contain offensive language against the 'batties' as icons of non-blackness.
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ “batty” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.
  2. ↑ 2002, Frederic Gomes Cassidy, ‎Robert Brock Le Page, Dictionary of Jamaican English (page 32).
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