Craze First Meant to Crack, and Still Does in Pottery
A craze is a short-lived enthusiasm. The word originally meant to crack, which is why glaze that cracks is said to craze.
A craze is an intense but short-lived enthusiasm. The original meaning was to crack or shatter, and it survives untouched in ceramics, where a glaze that develops a network of fine cracks is said to craze. The mental sense followed the same image: a cracked mind, which also gives *crazy* and *crazed*. A *crazy paving* path is named for the same cracked pattern.
- A short-lived fashion. *The latest craze.*
- To crack. *The glaze crazed.*
- Crazed — deranged, or cracked. *A crazed surface.*
- Crazy — from the same root. *A crazy idea.*
- Crazy paving — irregular flat stones. *A crazy paving path.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | craze | A brief craze. |
| Plural | crazes | Passing crazes. |
| Verb | craze | The glaze crazed. |
| Adjective | crazed | A crazed look. |
| Adjective | crazy | A crazy plan. |
- The craze lasted one summer.Fashion.
- The old bowl has crazed.Ceramics.
- Crazy paving uses broken slabs.The cracked pattern.
Craze, fad, trend
- Craze — intense, sudden, brief
- Fad — the same, slightly more dismissive
- Trend — slower, broader, may last
- Mania — the strongest word, suggesting loss of judgement
- Vogue — a period of fashionability, as in in vogue
Middle English *crasen*, to shatter, probably from a Scandinavian source. The sense of a passing enthusiasm dates from the 1800s.
What does crazing mean in pottery?
A network of fine cracks in the glaze, caused when the glaze and the clay body shrink at different rates.
Are craze and crazy related?
Yes. Both come from the sense of cracking. A crazy person was, in the old image, cracked.