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
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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
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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:
The standards of refereeing will be under the microscope like never before after the contentious and title-defining calls came in a mad flurry at the end of last season.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
“It is infectious to play a character who sees the best in people and isn’t mad at the world for all its foibles and bullies and shadows,” Sudeikis recently told the Hollywood Reporter.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
“These are sounds that can make you go mad, apparently,” Morton, 49, tells me, reclining on her bed at the Hotel Chelsea in New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
He was mad then and he’s still mad now.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
The way Old Rowdy was sniffing and looking, I couldn’t tell whether he was mad or scared.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Cold War strategists thought nuclear wars would never happen because of MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
The $1 billion, 300,000-square-foot museum was designed by MAD Architects founder Ma Yansong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025
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
Back in Milwaukee at age 10, we saw a feature in "MAD Magazine" called "Scenes We'd Like to See."
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 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
"War is a crime. War must be banned. I think it's mad. We didn't achieve anything really."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025
“I understand. We understand. And we were a little concerned, but not mad. Never mad.”
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
"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
You can't be any madder at us than I am...
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
She grows a dye garden of rarer plants like indigo and madder, along with marigold flowers, sunflower seeds and mushrooms.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Even madder than our list of the best TV shows on Netflix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
The fact that he was one hundred percent right made me that much madder.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
Theresa said the call was "the maddest experience. It was just really exciting".
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
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
This NFL season had one of the maddest scrambles to the playoffs that I can remember in all my years covering the league.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2022
The thing that makes me maddest of all, that makes me feel like I swallowed a frog, is how right he is.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
"The madded land" is a phrase intended to prove that the law-giver of taste, Johnson himself, could lodge the fury in his breast when opportunity occurred.
From Flower of the Mind by Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell
Look you, Johnson himself could lodge the fury in his responsible breast: And dubious title shakes the madded land.
From Hearts of Controversy by Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell
That madded Josiah and he said they kep’ it back because they wuz clost and wanted to save.
From Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Marietta Holley
Let Hist'ry tell where rival kings command, And dubious title shakes the madded land.
From English Satires by William Henry Oliphant Smeaton
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
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.
