to drive someone crazy
158
3.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
volver loco a
- The constant noise from the construction site is driving me crazy.
Examples
-
The itching is driving me crazy.
-
You better make up your mind because you're driving me crazy.
-
All right, well, this waiting is driving me crazy.
-
I am $20 short and it is driving me crazy.
-
All I know is this is driving me crazy.
-
I just had it done last week and it's driving me crazy!
-
That smell of glue is beginning to drive me crazy.
-
Your aunt means well, but she's driving me crazy.
Fiction book (2001) -
Of course it drives me crazy that I can't live without my chocolate.
Academic text (2007) -
He's driving me crazy.
Synonyms
524
2.8
Cause a person to feel hurt, upset and angry because of your words or actions
362
1.0
Make someone feel sad or worried
246
1.0
Make someone slightly angry or bothered by small repeated actions
144
3.6
Annoy someone again and again to make them react
137
3.0
Make someone feel annoyed because they cannot do something
114
1.0
To make someone very upset or annoyed
78
2.9
Make someone feel annoyed or impatient, often by repeated small actions
68
3.7
To make someone very angry
63
6.9
Make someone annoyed, often by small things
46
5.0
Make someone very angry
43
4.2
Annoy someone and make them angrier
41
4.2
To upset someone strongly and change how they feel
28
4.7
To make someone feel annoyed or unhappy
8
6.8
Make someone angry or annoyed on purpose by teasing them
7
4.9
To bother someone again and again until they feel angry
7
5.9
Make someone very annoyed by doing the same thing again and again
6
5.3
To make someone very angry or annoyed
6
7.0
To cause someone to feel very angry
4
7.4
To annoy someone a lot by small things another person does
1
7.7
To cause a sudden change that upsets the normal order of a system or situation
1
7.1
To do or say something on purpose to annoy someone
1
9.1
To make someone angry
1
9.9
To make someone very annoyed or angry
1
9.8
To make someone feel very annoyed or upset
1
7.9
To annoy someone or make them feel defensive
1
8.0
To make someone feel unhappy or annoyed
To make someone feel angry or nearly crazy
To annoy someone by doing the same small things again and again
To annoy someone or make them angry
Antonyms
How Annoyed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines a productive causative use of 'drive' (to cause or push into a state) with 'crazy' (a colloquial adjective for extreme upset/irrationality), so a learner who knows the constituents can reasonably infer it means 'make someone very upset/annoyed'. However, the use is metaphorical and colloquial, and the precise emotional nuance (annoy vs. insane) may not be fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Drive someone crazy may come from the picture of being pushed or driven around so much that you feel dizzy or lose control; being driven into a wild or confused state (crazy) is a simple image that explains why it means 'to make someone extremely annoyed or upset'.