mad
adjective
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
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mad
1 American
[mad]
/ mæd /
adjective
-
madder,
comparative
-
maddest
superlative
-
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
-
enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.
-
(of animals)
-
abnormally furious; ferocious.
a mad bull.
-
affected with rabies; rabid.
a mad dog.
-
-
extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational.
a mad scheme to invade France.
- Synonyms:
- perilous, dangerous, unsafe, ill-advised
-
wildly excited or confused; frantic.
mad haste.
- Synonyms:
- frenzied
-
overcome by desire, eagerness, enthusiasm, etc.; excessively or uncontrollably fond; infatuated.
He's mad about the opera.
-
wildly lively and merry; enjoyably hilarious.
to have a mad time at the Mardi Gras.
-
(of wind, storms, etc.) furious in violence.
A mad gale swept across the channel.
-
Slang. much or many.
Mad props for getting this organization off the ground.
adverb
verb (used with object)
madded,
madding
verb (used without object)
madded,
madding
idioms
-
like mad, with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.
-
have a mad on, to be angry for a period of time; be in a bad mood.
The last time he had a mad on, it lasted for days.
-
mad as a hatter, completely insane.
MAD
2
American
[mad]
/ mæd /
noun
mad.
3
American
abbreviation
mad
1
British
/ mæd /
adjective
-
mentally deranged; insane
-
senseless; foolish
a mad idea
-
informal (often foll by at) angry; resentful
-
wildly enthusiastic (about) or fond (of)
mad about football
football-mad
-
extremely excited or confused; frantic
a mad rush
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temporarily overpowered by violent reactions, emotions, etc
mad with grief
-
-
unusually ferocious
a mad buffalo
-
afflicted with rabies
-
-
informal with great energy, enthusiasm, or haste; wildly
-
crazily eccentric
verb
MAD
2
British
/ mæd /
acronym
mad
More Idioms
Usage
Mad meaning “enraged, angry” has been used since 1400, and this sense is a very common one. Because some teachers and usage critics insist that the only correct meaning of mad is “mentally disturbed, insane,” mad is often replaced by angry in formal contexts: The president is angry at Congress for overriding his veto.
Synonym Usage
Mad, crazy, insane are used to characterize wildly impractical or foolish ideas, actions, etc. Mad suggests senselessness and excess: The scheme of buying the bridge was absolutely mad. In informal usage, crazy suggests recklessness and impracticality: a crazy young couple. Insane is used with some opprobrium to express unsoundness and possible harmfulness: The new traffic system is simply insane.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-madnessnoun
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half-madadjective
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maddishadjective
-
quasi-madadjective
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unmadadjective
-
unmaddedadjective
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half-madlyadverb
-
quasi-madlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of mad
First recorded before 900; Middle English mad (adjective), madden (intransitive verb, derivative of the adjective); Old English gemǣd “made mad,” past participle of gemǣdan (unrecorded) “to make mad,” akin to gemād “mad, foolish”; cognate with Old Saxon gemēd, Old High German gimeit “foolish”
Explanation
If you're mad about something, you've lost your temper. If you've gone mad, you've lost your mind. Just like it's more common to be angry than to be insane, you're more likely to use mad to describe someone who's ticked off than to describe someone who has serious mental problems. If you say you're “mad about” something, you're saying you like it so much it distracts you.
Vocabulary lists containing mad
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And none of us enjoy — none of us wants to be mad at the person that lives across from us.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026
I got mad at myself for even entertaining the idea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The client ended up just getting mad at everyone, and Anspach couldn’t continue as her adviser.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“I’m not mad at them,” one former Swan says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
It isn’t mad about how much you talk or how little you say.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cold War strategists thought nuclear wars would never happen because of MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Talking to MAD winner, Kevin Willows, who helped set up a bereavement walking group, Grennan revealed the importance of walking to him.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
David Zucker: Not only that, we had some outside influences, like "MAD Magazine," that was a textbook for us.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2023
The next year, when Jaffee turned 100, Mad published a center-spread article, titled “Amazing All-Seeing Al Jaffee’s MAD E.S.P.,” that highlighted Jaffee’s knack for imagining cartoon contraptions that later became actual inventions.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
This reminded Jonah of a spoof he’d seen once in MAD magazine that was supposed to teach kids how to lie convincingly.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
“That’s when I got mad. Like, ‘Oh, my God.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“It infuriates her. It doesn’t make me mad. I feel very fortunate that I can make time during the day and do these things.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
"It's pretty mad. You can't put a price on it," Laurent Saget, who runs Terres Blanches, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026
"My mum thinks I'm mad. She's a great cook and I've always felt a little guilty. It breaks her heart," he added.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
“Ohh, Auggie, don’t be mad. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand seeing you wear that thing on your head anymore, you know? I didn’t think it was good for you.”
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
"I'm mad about the price, but I'm even madder about why it's so high," the 28-year-old told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 2, 2026
"And of course now I'm even madder than I was before because I've thought of little else now for two years."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
But I don’t think they have been, and I’ve been trying to unpack why I often feel madder after scrolling than I ever did on Twitter.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2025
“The more I looked at it, the madder I got,” he recalled.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
Plus he was scared that anything he said was going to make Ernie even madder.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
It was the maddest the sport had gotten in ages at anything that didn’t involve Lane Kiffin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
"It was an incredible feeling to score that winner in such an important game, in a game that was full of emotion and the strangest, maddest game I've ever played in or witnessed," said Maguire.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2025
In one of the maddest storylines of March, Monson’s team did not go quietly in what was supposed to be his final week on the job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
In this maddest of Marches, it’s the first time since seeding began in 1979 that no team seeded better than No. 4 made the Final Four.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
And now as I came up on her back porch, Aunt Loma was the maddest white woman you ever saw.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Take such a phrase as "the madded land"; there, indeed, is a word coined by the noble rage as the last century evoked it.
From Flower of the Mind by Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell
The boss hadn't no righd to let you go———" "Yes, he had, I madded him first; I was a fool.
From Stories of a Western Town by Octave Thanet
I told Josiah what he said about him, for it madded me, but Josiah took it cool.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) by Marshall Pinckney Wilder
For Mrs. Bleecker was very wrathful, Euan, and Lana's indiscretions madded her....
From The Hidden Children by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
It madded me to pine here, making rhymes, while outside the sweet wind whispered: "Come out, Michael—come out into the green delight!"
From Cardigan by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
Clustered barnacle-like at the end of a glorious arc of sand, Beadnell, along with the neighbouring villages of Bamburgh and Seahouses, has long been a magnet for those seeking refuge from the madding crowd.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
Far from the madding crowd, not to mention from the alluring presence of his MI6 handler and former lover, Faith Green, Gabriel works away in his cottage on a travel book about the world’s rivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
This is a crowded sports market, even with the Sonics gone for a decade and a half, and standing out from the madding crowd isn’t easy.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2023
If you really want to avoid the madding crowds go offseason.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2019
It was exactly the madding crowd that Bobby wished would stay afar.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
