like crazy
86
7.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
como loco
- I miss you like crazy.
- run like crazy
- work like crazy
- try like crazy
They save money like crazy instead of investing.
- They save money like crazy instead of investing.
- Sweating like crazy and long sleeves kept long.
- I'm like sweating like crazy, 'cause if, if that guy bombs.
- It's me losing context and running like crazy that made me think that way.
- So you start observing things like crazy to figure out what is going on.
- It's hard to be booed, but if you are booed like crazy, you can make crazy money.
- I just read like crazy, you know, like I read a lot.
- But I prepared like crazy for that interview.
Examples
-
The pizzas are selling like crazy.
-
His heart was pounding like crazy, but he had survived without a scratch.
Fiction book (1999) -
Here is what I do: go to my computer and write like crazy.
Fiction book (2000) -
So you start observing things like crazy to figure out what is going on.
-
You must have edited like crazy.
-
I take off, and Bobby is running behind me, laughing like crazy.
-
Plus, I've been working like crazy.
-
You're growing like crazy and you're being more creative.
-
Whenever you say something to him, he grins like crazy and says, 'Okey-dokey.'
Fiction book (1995) -
I take off, and Bobby is running behind me, laughing like crazy.
Synonyms
104
2.9
In a way that is not controlled and shows strong feeling
75
7.9
Happening very quickly, with great effort or very strongly
61
3.2
In a very wild and uncontrolled way
38
3.0
In a very angry and energetic way
23
6.7
Very strongly and with a lot of energy
13
8.1
Act very quickly and with great effort
8
8.2
Very quickly and with great energy
5
4.4
To do something very suddenly and with great force
5
5.4
Doing something with great energy and strong interest
4
4.7
Very quickly and with great force
1
9.2
To do something very quickly or with great effort
Antonyms
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + crazy
The sense 'very intensely/quickly' is directly derivable from 'like' used as 'in the manner of' plus 'crazy' meaning 'insanely' or 'extremely', so a learner who knows those words can infer it functions as an intensifier. This simile-based, compositional pattern is common across languages and follows regular English usage (though informal), making it understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Like crazy comes from a simple image: imagine someone acting as if they were crazy, moving wildly and without control. So when you do something 'like crazy', you do it very quickly or with a lot of energy.