משוגע
Meshuga
/meh-shoo-GAH/
Crazy, insane, nuts
💬What does Meshuga mean in Hebrew?
Meshuga (משוגע, pronounced meh-shoo-GAH) is the standard Hebrew word for "crazy" or "insane", from a Biblical Hebrew root. It's the direct source of the Yiddish and American-English slang word "meshuggeneh" — so unlike most Yiddish loanwords that entered Hebrew, this one traveled outward from Hebrew through Yiddish into English.
🔊How to pronounce Meshuga
משוגע
Meshuga
meh-shoo-GAH
Capitals = stressed syllable
The Hebrew script reads right-to-left. The English transliteration uses the Israeli Sephardic pronunciation standard.
🇮🇱When do Israelis use Meshuga?
Describes a person or thing as crazy; masculine "meshuga", feminine "meshuga'at".
Fun fact
Because meshuga is the origin point for the Yiddish/English "meshuggeneh", it's a rare example of a word flowing from Hebrew outward into world languages, rather than the more common direction of Yiddish or Arabic loanwords flowing into Israeli Hebrew.
📝Meshuga in a sentence — examples
אתה משוגע? זה מסוכן מדי!
Ata meshuga? Ze mesukan miday!
Are you crazy? That's too dangerous!
היא ממש משוגעת על כלבים.
Hi mamash meshuga'at al klavim.
She's absolutely crazy about dogs.
זה רעיון משוגע, אבל אולי זה יעבוד.
Ze ra'ayon meshuga, aval ulai ze ya'avod.
That's a crazy idea, but maybe it'll work.
המחירים בעיר הזאת משוגעים.
Hamkhirim ba'ir hazot meshuga'im.
The prices in this city are insane.
אל תשגע אותי, תן לי תשובה ברורה.
Al teshage oti, ten li teshuva brura.
Don't drive me crazy, give me a clear answer.
📖Origin of Meshuga
Hebrew root ש-ג-ע (sh-g-', to be mad/crazy), attested since Biblical Hebrew. This same root passed into Yiddish as "meshuge" and from there into American English slang ("meshuggeneh") — one of the rare Hebrew words that traveled outward through Yiddish rather than the other way around.
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Related Hebrew slang words
טירוף
Tiruf
tee-ROOF
Insanity, madness — slang for something wild, intense, unbelievably good or bad
לא נורמלי
Lo normali
loh nor-MAH-lee
Insane, crazy, unbelievable (positive or negative intensifier)
דפוק
Dafuk
dah-FOOK
Broken, messed up, screwed up, crazy (in a broken way)
בלגן
Balagan
bah-lah-GAN
Mess, chaos, disorder, total mayhem