Il primo appuntamento complicato tra Will e June

What does “lunatico” mean in Italian?

On an awkward first date, one admits to writing about their mood swings (sbalzi d’umore), and the other teases: «Non ti faceva così lunatico» (“I didn’t think you were so moody”). Lunatico means moody or temperamental, literally “moonstruck.”

It comes from luna (“the moon”), on the old belief that the moon’s phases sway our moods, the same idea behind English “lunatic,” though the Italian is far milder: a lunatico is changeable and unpredictable, not insane. A useful, slightly poetic way to describe someone whose temper turns with the tide.