Rület

Rület is a Hungarian noun that denotes madness or insanity. It refers to a state of loss of reason, extreme irrational behavior, or a heightened departure from what is considered normal. The term is used in both literal and metaphorical senses.

Closer to the clinical concept is őrület, a more formal designation for insanity, whereas rület often appears in literary, rhetorical, or colloquial contexts to convey intensity, danger, or eccentricity without implying a medical diagnosis.

Historically, rület has appeared in philosophical and medical discourse as a catchall for mental disturbance. In contemporary psychiatry, it is not a clinical term. Modern diagnoses use standardized categories such as psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), bipolar disorder with psychotic features, major depressive disorder with psychotic features, delirium, dementia, or substance-induced conditions.

In Hungarian culture, rület features in literature, cinema, and political rhetoric as a motif for the fragility of reason and the tension between rationality and excess. The word also reflects attitudes toward stigma and the social boundary between eccentricity and illness.

Today, rület is primarily a cultural and linguistic concept rather than a clinical one.