irre
crazy
Colloquial for crazy, insane, or unreasonable. Can refer to people or actions.
EXAMPLE
Du bist doch irre, bei diesem Sturm nach draußen zu gehen!
You must be crazy to go outside in this storm!
irre
crazy / awesome
Checking...
Loading your saved state.
Meanings
irre
extremely
Colloquially used as an adverb for emphasis, in the sense of 'very' or 'extremely'.
EXAMPLE
Das neue Album von der Band ist irre gut.
The band's new album is extremely good.
irre
awesome
Colloquial for great, fantastic, impressive.
EXAMPLE
Was für eine irre Aussicht von diesem Berg!
What an awesome view from this mountain!
irre
mistaken
Elevated or outdated for 'being in error', 'wrong', or 'having gone off the right path'.
EXAMPLE
Seine Annahme, der Fall sei bereits gelöst, erwies sich als irre.
His assumption that the case had already been solved proved to be mistaken.
Usage tips
Word family
The word 'irre' is related to 'der Irrtum' (mistake) and the verb 'irren' (to be mistaken, to wander around). The original meaning of having gone off the right path developed into today's colloquial meaning 'verrückt' (crazy).
EXAMPLE
Er irrte stundenlang durch den Wald.
He wandered through the forest for hours.
Colloquial use
The meanings 'verrückt' (crazy), 'sehr' (very), and 'großartig' (great) are almost exclusively part of colloquial language. In formal or written contexts, the word is usually avoided.
EXAMPLE
Die Party gestern war der irre Wahnsinn!
The party yesterday was totally insanely awesome!
Intensifying adverb
As an adverb, 'irre' is placed before an adjective or another adverb to intensify it. In this function, it is not declined.
EXAMPLE
Der Film war irre spannend.
The film was extremely exciting.
Context clue
Whether 'irre' means something negative ('verrückt' = crazy) or positive ('großartig' = great) depends on the context. If it refers to a risky action, it is usually negative. If it describes a thing or an experience, it is often positive.
EXAMPLE
Ein irre gefährlicher Plan!
An insanely dangerous plan!
Elevated meaning
The meaning 'falsch' (wrong) or 'im Irrtum' (mistaken) is outdated and is now only used in very elevated language or in literary texts. It is often found in the fixed expression 'irre sein' (to be mistaken).
EXAMPLE
Der Gelehrte erkannte, dass seine bisherige Theorie irre war.
The scholar realized that his previous theory was mistaken.
Compare with
irre vs verrückt
crazy
Verrückt and irre can be used colloquially as reactions to something extremely unusual. Verrückt tends to highlight the extreme or chaotic nature of a situation and can sound critical. Irre, by contrast, can explicitly express enthusiasm about something great or impressive.
irre
Die gelungene letzte Wendung der Show war einfach irre.
The show's successful final twist was simply awesome.
verrückt
Die vielen überraschenden Wendungen machten die Show völlig verrückt.
The show's many surprising twists made it completely crazy.
In real life
Loading video examples...