Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

madly

American  
[mad-lee] / ˈmæd li /

adverb

  1. insanely or wildly.

    The old witch cackled madly.

  2. with desperate haste or intensity; furiously.

    They worked madly to repair the bridge.

  3. foolishly.

    They lived madly, wasting all their money.

  4. extremely.

    They're madly in love.
madly British  
/ ˈmædlɪ /

adverb

  1. in an insane or foolish manner

  2. with great speed and energy

  3. informal extremely or excessively

    I love you madly
"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

Etymology

Origin of madly

A Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at mad, -ly

Explanation

To do something madly is to do it in a frenzied or crazy way. If you oversleep, you might throw your clothes on and run madly out the door to catch your bus. If your sister has a demented, angry expression on her face, you could say that her eyes are glowing madly. If your brother is rushing around the house, trying to hastily clean it up before your parents get home, you might say that he's madly throwing things in the garbage. Madly sometimes also means "intensely" or "excessively." In Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet love each other madly.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing madly

"The Necklace" and "The Fashion Show"

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!

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.

His show Truly, Madly, Baldy tackled issues encountered by both men and women - as well as those coming to terms with sudden hair loss.

From BBC • Aug. 31, 2024

Madly in love with his second wife, whom he married in 2016, he seemed less and less interested in devoting himself to business.

From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2022

I wanted to put out "Riders on the Storm" as a single, and they all wanted "Love Her Madly."

From Fox News • Oct. 12, 2021

Madly grand and deadpan daft, the show essentializes a strange glamour that seems to have leaked from the art world into the culture at large.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 15, 2019

Madly in love as he was, he was not intending to marry at once.

From Thomas Jefferson The Apostle of Americanism by Chinard, Gilbert

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.