mad
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.
wildly excited or confused; frantic: mad haste.
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.
Slang. very; extremely:It's mad hot in this car.
Archaic. to make mad.
Archaic. to be, become, or act mad.
Idioms about mad
like mad, Informal. with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm: She ran like mad to catch the bus.
mad as a hatter, completely insane.
have a mad on, Informal. 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.
Origin of mad
1synonym study For mad
usage note For mad
word story For mad
The Old English forms are from the Germanic adjective gamaidaz “changed for the worse, abnormal.” The element maid- in gamaidaz is from Proto-Indo-European moi-, a variant of the root mei-, moi- “to change, exchange, go, move,” extended with a dental suffix ( -d in Germanic, -t elsewhere). The same suffixed variant moit- appears in Latin mūtāre “to change, exchange, give and receive in exchange.” Sicilian Greek (therefore likely to be influenced by Latin) has the noun moîtos “thanks, favor, reward,” which is possibly a borrowing from Old Latin moitus.
The progression of senses of mad starts with its original sense in Old English, “troubled in mind, demented.” The senses “rabid (dog),” “foolish or unwise,” and “overcome by desire or eagerness” are all recorded from around 1300. Mad in the sense “enraged, angry” arose after about 1400. This sense of mad is the usual colloquial term in the United States (the British are more likely to use angry ) and has been condemned by the arbiters of usage since the late-18th century. The sense “wildly lively, merry” is an Americanism, associated with jazz and African Americans, and dates to the early 1940s.
like mad (initially, for mad ) is quite old, from the 14th century. We take it today to mean “with great haste or energy,” but the original meaning was more literal: “in the manner of one who is mad.”
Other words for mad
Opposites for mad
Other words from mad
- half-mad, adjective
- half-mad·ly, adverb
- half-mad·ness, noun
- qua·si-mad, adjective
- qua·si-mad·ly, adverb
- un·mad, adjective
- un·mad·ded, adjective
Other definitions for MAD (2 of 3)
Other definitions for mad. (3 of 3)
madam.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for mad (1 of 2)
/ (mæd) /
mentally deranged; insane
senseless; foolish: a mad idea
(often foll by at) informal angry; resentful
(foll by about, on, or over; often postpositive) wildly enthusiastic (about) or fond (of): mad about football; football-mad
extremely excited or confused; frantic: a mad rush
temporarily overpowered by violent reactions, emotions, etc: mad with grief
(of animals)
unusually ferocious: a mad buffalo
afflicted with rabies
like mad informal with great energy, enthusiasm, or haste; wildly
mad as a hatter crazily eccentric
archaic to make or become mad; act or cause to act as if mad
Origin of mad
1Derived forms of mad
- maddish, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for MAD (2 of 2)
/ (mæd) /
mutual assured destruction: a theory of nuclear deterrence whereby each side in a conflict has the capacity to destroy the other in retaliation for a nuclear attack
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with mad
In addition to the idioms beginning with mad
- mad about
- mad as a hatter
- mad as a hornet
- made for each other
- made of money
- made to measure
- made to order
- mad rush
also see:
- crazy (mad) about
- drive someone crazy (mad)
- hopping mad
- like crazy (mad)
- stark raving mad
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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