पागलख़ाना (paagalkhaanaa)
noun
A compound noun meaning 'madhouse/mental asylum,' from पागल (paagal, 'mad') plus ख़ाना (khaanaa, 'house/place'), used literally and, very commonly, as an exaggerated figure of speech for any chaotic scene.
Sense
1
:
chaotic, noisy, disordered place
noun, masculine
Synonyms: अफ़रा-तफ़री (afraa-tafrii, chaos/commotion, not a place-noun), भीड़-भाड़ (bhiid-bhaad, crowded mayhem, related but distinct)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This is the sense you'll hear far more often at home: a mother walking into a room where all the kids are screaming and things are flying might sigh, 'यह घर तो पागलख़ाना बन गया है' (this house has become a madhouse (yah ghar to paagalkhaanaa ban gayaa hai, 'this house has become a madhouse')). It's affectionate exasperation, not literal diagnosis.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often reach only for the literal asylum meaning; in daily speech this figurative use (e.g., describing a chaotic office or house full of shouting kids) is actually the more frequent one. 2) It's an exclamatory/descriptive noun here, not something you'd use clinically or respectfully -- calling an actual hospital this would sound insensitive.
Sample Sentences:
यह घर तो पागलख़ाना बन गया है।
This house has become a total madhouse.
(yah ghar to paagalkhaanaa ban gayaa hai।)
दफ़्तर में आज पूरा पागलख़ाना मचा हुआ था।
The office was a complete madhouse today.
(daftar men aaj pooraa paagalkhaanaa machaa huaa thaa।)
बच्चों को अकेला मत छोड़ो, वरना ये कमरा पागलख़ाना बन जाएगा।
Don't leave the kids alone, or this room will turn into a madhouse.
(bachchon ko akelaa mat chhodo, varnaa ye kamraa paagalkhaanaa ban jaaegaa।)
शादी वाले घर में हर तरफ़ पागलख़ाना मचा रहता है।
In a house with a wedding going on, there's chaos everywhere all the time.
(shaadii vaale ghar men har taraf paagalkhaanaa machaa rahtaa hai।)
प्लीज़ शांत हो जाओ, ये पागलख़ाना नहीं है!
Please calm down, this isn't a madhouse!
(pliiz shaant ho jaao, ye paagalkhaanaa nahiin hai!)
अगर सब लोग एक साथ चिल्लाने लगें, तो यहाँ पागलख़ाना हो जाएगा।
If everyone starts shouting at once, this place will turn into bedlam.
(agar sab log ek saath chillaane lagen, to yahaan paagalkhaanaa ho jaaegaa।)
अगर मैं थोड़ी देर के लिए बाहर न जाता, तो घर पागलख़ाना बन जाता।
If I hadn't stepped out for a while, the house would have turned into a madhouse.
(agar main thodii der ke lie baahar n jaataa, to ghar paagalkhaanaa ban jaataa।)
स्टेशन पर टिकट खिड़की के सामने ऐसा पागलख़ाना मचा था कि कुछ समझ ही नहीं आ रहा था।
There was such bedlam in front of the ticket window at the station that it was impossible to make sense of anything.
(steshan par tikat khidkii ke saamne aisaa paagalkhaanaa machaa thaa ki kuchh samajh hii nahiin aa rahaa thaa।)
जब सेल लगती है, तो मॉल में पागलख़ाना मच जाता है।
Whenever there's a sale, the mall turns into an absolute madhouse.
(jab sel lagtii hai, to mol men paagalkhaanaa mach jaataa hai।)
इस पागलख़ाने को थोड़ा व्यवस्थित करने की सख़्त ज़रूरत है।
This madhouse badly needs some organizing.
(is paagalkhaane ko thodaa vyavasthit karne kii sakht zaroorat hai।)
रसोई में इतना पागलख़ाना मचाया गया है कि कुछ ढूँढना नामुमकिन है।
Such a madhouse has been created in the kitchen that finding anything is impossible.
(rasoii men itnaa paagalkhaanaa machaayaa gayaa hai ki kuchh dhoondhnaa naamumkin hai।)
Sense
2
:
mental asylum, psychiatric hospital
noun, masculine
Synonyms: मानसिक चिकित्सालय (maansik chikitsaalay, formal/clinical), मनोरोग अस्पताल (manorog asptaal, formal/clinical)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: Older Hindi speech and cinema use पागलख़ाना (paagalkhaanaa) freely for the literal institution, but the word has the same blunt, slightly stigmatizing edge in Hindi that 'madhouse' or 'asylum' carries in English -- worth knowing, but not the polite modern term.
Common Mistakes: 1) This word itself carries an old-fashioned, somewhat crude tone -- like calling it a 'nuthouse' in English rather than 'psychiatric hospital.' In careful or clinical contexts, native speakers reach for मानसिक चिकित्सालय (maansik chikitsaalay) or मनोरोग अस्पताल (manorog asptaal) instead.
Sample Sentences:
पुराने ज़माने में मानसिक बीमारों को अक्सर पागलख़ाने भेज दिया जाता था।
In the old days, the mentally ill were often sent off to the madhouse.
(puraane zamaane men maansik biimaaron ko aksar paagalkhaane bhej diyaa jaataa thaa।)
डॉक्टर ने कहा कि उसे इलाज के लिए पागलख़ाने में भर्ती कराना पड़ेगा।
The doctor said he would have to be admitted to the asylum for treatment.
(doktar ne kahaa ki use ilaaj ke lie paagalkhaane men bhartii karaanaa padegaa।)
यह शहर का सबसे पुराना पागलख़ाना है, जो अंग्रेज़ों के ज़माने में बना था।
This is the city's oldest mental asylum, built back in British times.
(yah shahar kaa sabse puraanaa paagalkhaanaa hai, jo angrezon ke zamaane men banaa thaa।)
वह चिल्ला रहा था, "मुझे पागलख़ाने मत भेजो, मैं ठीक हूँ!"
He was screaming, "Don't send me to the madhouse, I'm fine!"
(vah chillaa rahaa thaa, "mujhe paagalkhaane mat bhejo, main thiik hoon!")
अगर उस ज़माने में यह बीमारी होती, तो उसे पागलख़ाने भेज दिया जाता।
If this illness had existed back then, he would have been sent to the asylum.
(agar us zamaane men yah biimaarii hotii, to use paagalkhaane bhej diyaa jaataa।)
फ़िल्म में हीरो को पागल साबित करके पागलख़ाने में बंद करवा दिया जाता है।
In the film, the hero is declared insane and gets locked up in the asylum.
(film men hiiro ko paagal saabit karke paagalkhaane men band karvaa diyaa jaataa hai।)
क्या तुम्हें लगता है कि मुझे पागलख़ाने भेज देना चाहिए?
Do you think I should be sent to the madhouse?
(kyaa tumhen lagtaa hai ki mujhe paagalkhaane bhej denaa chaahie?)
सरकार ने राज्य के पागलख़ानों की स्थिति सुधारने का आदेश दिया।
The government ordered improvements to the condition of the state's mental asylums.
(sarkaar ne raajy ke paagalkhaanon kii sthiti sudhaarne kaa aadesh diyaa।)
उसकी दादी हमेशा कहती थीं कि उस पुराने घर के पास एक पागलख़ाना हुआ करता था।
His grandmother always used to say that there used to be a mental asylum near that old house.
(uskii daadii hameshaa kahtii thiin ki us puraane ghar ke paas ek paagalkhaanaa huaa kartaa thaa।)
अख़बार में छपा था कि उस पागलख़ाने के मरीज़ों के साथ बुरा बर्ताव किया जाता रहा है।
It was reported in the newspaper that the patients of that asylum had been treated badly for a long time.
(akhbaar men chhapaa thaa ki us paagalkhaane ke mariizon ke saath buraa bartaav kiyaa jaataa rahaa hai।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
पागलख़ाना
(paagalkhaanaa)
(sg.m.oblique):
पागलख़ाने
(paagalkhaane)
(pl.m.direct):
पागलख़ाने
(paagalkhaane)
(pl.m.oblique):
पागलख़ानों
(paagalkhaanon)