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barking mad

American

[bahr-king mad] / ˈbɑr kɪŋ ˈmæd /

Also barking

adjective

British and Australian Informal.

thoroughly insane; crazy.

Whoever dreamed up this nonsensical storyline was barking mad.
Not put off by this frankly barking mad conversation, I agreed to hear more about his idea over lunch.

Etymology

Origin of barking mad

First recorded in 1925–30

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.

How could such a high official in the United States sound so barking mad?

From Washington Post • Nov. 19, 2021

Live chickens cluck down the block, and the neighbor’s pit bull drives me barking mad.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2019

Perhaps your dog is barking mad because a climactic battle between the forces of good and evil breaks out whenever he tries to get some sleep.

From Slate • May 16, 2019

Even by the director’s standards, “Isle of Dogs” is close to being barking mad.

From Economist • Feb. 22, 2018

“If it hadn’t been for this place, I’d have run barking mad years ago,” the bodyguard said.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023