Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) mad, insane, eccentric, occas. used as a nickname; as a n.

1911		E. Runyon letter 25 June in Breslin Damon Runyon (1991) 106: Alfred is having such great success writing about a baseball player named Raymond. He is good and nutsy.
1934		F.S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night (1953 rev. edn) 175: A boy [...] she thought was pretty nutsey.
1937		C. Odets Golden Boy II iii: The boy’s a real nutsy-Fagan!
1955		F. Brookhouser Now I Lay Me Down 52: Women can be a little bit nutsy too – where men are concerned.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 245: That chart of yours is just plain nutsy, if you ask me!
1986		C. Hiaasen Tourist Season (1987) 30: Keyes couldn’t dismiss the ‘Nights of December’ letter, nutsy as it was.
1997		D. Stewardson Wild Action 55: Fruit and vegetables are okay, but for some reason anything else orange makes Crackers a little nutsy.
2004		A. Loiselle Stage-Bound 145: You can be out in the bush and the nutsy thing is there is nothing going on out there.