bats in the belfry
Mental eccentricity, proverbially
Bats in the belfry describes someone who is crazy or eccentric.
A belfry is a bell tower, and bats roosting there would flutter chaotically when disturbed—a fitting image for disordered thinking.
The phrase usually appears with have: He's got bats in the belfry.
Often shortened to just bats: You're completely bats.
- mad as a hatterCompletely, absurdly insane
- stark raving madUtterly, wildly insane
- off one's rockerInsane, mentally unstable
- out to lunchDistracted, unaware of surroundings
- away with the fairiesDistracted, not present mentally
lost the plot · flightiness · cuckoo · kooky · screw loose · crazy like a fox · scatterbrained · loopy · nutty as a fruitcake · haunting · zany · barking mad · off the rails · touched in the head · quirky · oddball · peculiar · unorthodox
bats in the belfrysane
Mentally healthy, clearheaded
sound mind · of sound mind · all there · in one's right mind · rational
bats in the belfrynormal
Conforming to standard
conventional · ordinary · straight-laced · buttoned-up · mainstream