Refers to mental derangement or a state of being crazy. Can be used literally or figuratively.
彼の行動には狂いが見られる。
There is a touch of madness in his behavior.
irregularity; deviation; disorder
Used for something being out of order, not functioning correctly, or deviating from the norm. Common in mechanical or systematic contexts.
時計に狂いが生じた。
The clock has developed an irregularity.
Used as a suffix (often voiced to ぐるい) to indicate an obsessive enthusiast or fanatic. The standalone noun use is rare.
彼は釣り狂いだ。
He is a fishing fanatic.
This clock has developed a slight inaccuracy.
それは狂いの沙汰だ。
That's sheer madness.
計画に狂いが生じた。
A deviation occurred in the plan.
あの人はゲーム狂いで、毎晩遅くまで遊んでいる。
That person is a game nut, playing until late every night.
I had the irregularity in the engine fixed.
He's a workaholic; he's even at the office on his days off.
マニア is a neutral loanword for an enthusiast, while 狂い (as the suffix ~狂い) implies an obsessive, almost crazed level of devotion.
誤差 is the precise technical term for a measurement error, while 狂い is a broader, everyday word for anything being off or out of order.
正気 means sanity, the direct opposite of 狂い's sense of madness.
正常 means normal or functioning correctly, the opposite of 狂い's sense of irregularity or malfunction.
insanity; madness; an insane person
off-season flowering; unseasonal blooming
woman-crazy; obsessed with a woman; losing one's head over a woman
off-season flowering
man-crazy; nymphomania; wantonness
Noun form of the verb 狂う (くるう, 'to go mad, to be out of order'). The suffix use with rendaku (ぐるい) developed from the idea of being 'crazy about' something.