adj · noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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UK:/ˈheɪ.waɪ.ə(ɹ)/
US:/ˈheɪ.waɪɚ/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:HH EY1 W AY2 R
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Roughly-made, unsophisticated, decrepit (from the use of haywire for temporary repairs).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Behaviorally erratic or uncontrollable, especially of a machine or mechanical process.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
It was working fine until it went haywire and wouldn't stop printing blank sheets.
Those kids go haywire when they don't get what they want.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Wire used to bind bales of hay.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To attach or fix with haywire.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
not functioning properly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
something is amiss
has gone completely haywire
something is wrong with the engine
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: amiss(p), awry(p), wrong(p)
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
it used to drive my husband balmy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: balmy, barmy, bats, batty, bonkers, buggy, cracked, crackers, daft, dotty, fruity, kooky, kookie, loco, loony, loopy, nuts, nutty, round the bend, around the bend, wacky, whacky
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
wire for tying up bales of hay
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: wire
History
Etymology
From hay + wire. The original meaning of “likely to become tangled unpredictably or unusably, or fall apart”, as though only bound with the kind of soft, springy wire used to bind hay bales comes from usage in New England lumber camps circa 1905 where haywire outfit became the common term to refer to slap-dash collections of logging tools. To go haywire has since evolved to represent the act of falling apart or behaving unpredictably, as would wire spooled under tension springing into an unmanageable tangle once a piece had been removed from the factory spool, e.g., “he took off the back of his watch, removed a gear and the whole works went haywire.”
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
