mad
1 Americanadjective
comparative
madder,superlative
maddest-
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
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enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.
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(of animals)
-
abnormally furious; ferocious.
a mad bull.
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affected with rabies; rabid.
a mad dog.
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extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational.
a mad scheme to invade France.
- Synonyms:
- perilous, dangerous, unsafe, ill-advised
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wildly excited or confused; frantic.
mad haste.
- Synonyms:
- frenzied
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overcome by desire, eagerness, enthusiasm, etc.; excessively or uncontrollably fond; infatuated.
He's mad about the opera.
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wildly lively and merry; enjoyably hilarious.
to have a mad time at the Mardi Gras.
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(of wind, storms, etc.) furious in violence.
A mad gale swept across the channel.
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Slang. much or many.
Mad props for getting this organization off the ground.
adverb
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
-
like mad, with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.
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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.
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mad as a hatter, completely insane.
noun
abbreviation
adjective
-
mentally deranged; insane
-
senseless; foolish
a mad idea
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informal (often foll by at) angry; resentful
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wildly enthusiastic (about) or fond (of)
mad about football
football-mad
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extremely excited or confused; frantic
a mad rush
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temporarily overpowered by violent reactions, emotions, etc
mad with grief
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unusually ferocious
a mad buffalo
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afflicted with rabies
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informal with great energy, enthusiasm, or haste; wildly
-
crazily eccentric
verb
acronym
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.
Related Words
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
- half-mad adjective
- half-madly adverb
- half-madness noun
- maddish adjective
- quasi-mad adjective
- quasi-madly adverb
- unmad adjective
- unmadded adjective
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”
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.
“It was our bubble. So the only fear was just them trying to release it and everyone going, ‘No, that’s just mad.’
From Los Angeles Times
But the best thing about Dickens’ novella is that it is simple yet effective, providing an extremely stable foundation for any mad genius to build upon with their own version of his legend.
From Salon
"I was mad for football growing up," he recalls.
From BBC
His mouth moved oddly, as if he were mad at his words.
"They're mad at me. And they can be mad at me for the rest of their lives - I have to take that."
From BBC
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.
