rabid

[ rab-id ]

adjective

1. irrationally extreme in opinion or practice:

   a rabid isolationist;

   a rabid baseball fan.

   Synonyms: bigoted, fanatical, ardent, fervent, zealous

2. furious or raging; violently intense:

   a rabid hunger.

3. affected with or pertaining to rabies; mad.

rabid

/ ˈræbɪd; rəˈbɪdɪtɪ; ˈreɪ- /

adjective

1. relating to or having rabies
2. zealous; fanatical; violent; raging

Derived Forms

• ˈrabidly, adverb
• rabidity, noun

Other Words From

• rab·id·i·ty [r, uh, -, bid, -i-tee, ra-], rabid·ness noun
• rabid·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabid¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin rabidus “raving, furious, mad,” from rab(ere) “to rave, be mad” + -idus -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabid¹

C17: from Latin rabidus frenzied, mad, from rabere to be mad

Example Sentences

As soon as I broke the line, the kids whom I had been standing next to turned rabid on me.

From The Daily Beast

This method works for TB, for cholera, for rabid animals—for just about everything.

From The Daily Beast

Which is why his efforts to justify his rabid consumption of football wind up feeling so slippery and convoluted.

From The Daily Beast

But once EV-68 fizzles out, surely something new will fill its place in the rabid 24-hour all-crisis-all-the-time news cycle.

From The Daily Beast

Given the hoops mania, though, the gym is the largest in the state, capable of holding 3,000-plus rabid fans.

From The Daily Beast

They are not the figures of any rabid Socialist making frenzied guesses.

From Project Gutenberg

On one occasion much alarm was occasioned by one of them becoming rabid, rushing violently at and biting animals and people.

From Project Gutenberg

Rabid diatribes appeared in "The Light," and incessant scenes took place at the municipal sessions.

From Project Gutenberg

Georges Clemenceau has been a rabid foe to Religion and to the Church from the very beginning of his political career.

From Project Gutenberg

He saw standing in front of the schoolhouse four men, and they were the worst and most rabid Tories in the settlement.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crazed
• delirious
• enthusiastic
• fanatical
• fervent
• frenzied
• furious
• virulent
• zealous