madcap

[mad-kap]

See more synonyms for madcap on Thesaurus.com

adjective

wildly or heedlessly impulsive; reckless; rash: a madcap scheme.

noun

a madcap person.

Origin of madcap

First recorded in 1580–90; mad + cap¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for madcap

Contemporary Examples

And it was as madcap, sharp, and romantic as the series was when it left off in May.
Imagine Andy Samberg as Your Best Man
Kevin Fallon
September 29, 2014
But Poehler is, and has been throughout the run of her show, just as good: just as silly, just as madcap, just as witty.
What's TV's Funniest Show? Our Emmy Awards Comedy Predictions
Kevin Fallon
August 21, 2014
This was a madcap game, the ball hurtling from end to end, chased by tired legs of every hue.
Stars and Stripes 2, Black Stars 1: Team USA Takes a Win From Ghana
Tunku Varadarajan
June 17, 2014
But for all its madcap zaniness, Woke Up Lonely easily refutes the idea that the novel is a staid, obsolete form of writing.
What a Real Cult Novel Looks Like
Drew Toal
April 5, 2013
But the extent of the madcap goofiness in the helicopter ride is too much for some 007 diehards.
Best James Bond Opening Sequences: ‘Goldeneye’ & More (VIDEO)
Kevin Fallon
October 4, 2012

Historical Examples

Come down to breakfast, madcap, and come down lightly, or you'll wake your mother.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
For once the madcap girl got the better of the practised courtier.
Memoirs of the Comtesse du Barry
Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon
There was certainly no plan too madcap for Peachy to undertake.
The Jolliest School of All
Angela Brazil
We should have thought at once the prank that madcap would be at!
Dorothy's Travels
Evelyn Raymond
She wants instead a fortune‑teller, a madcap like Ydo Carrothers.
The Silver Butterfly
Mrs. Wilson Woodrow

British Dictionary definitions for madcap

madcap

adjective

impulsive, reckless, or lively

noun

an impulsive, reckless, or lively person

Word Origin

C16: from mad + cap (in the figurative sense: head)

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

Word Origin and History for madcap

1580s, noun and adjective, from mad (adj.) + cap, used here figuratively for "head." Related: Madcappery.

madcap

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Related Words

Examples from the Web for madcap

Contemporary Examples

And it was as madcap, sharp, and romantic as the series was when it left off in May.

But Poehler is, and has been throughout the run of her show, just as good: just as silly, just as madcap, just as witty.

This was a madcap game, the ball hurtling from end to end, chased by tired legs of every hue.

But for all its madcap zaniness, Woke Up Lonely easily refutes the idea that the novel is a staid, obsolete form of writing.

But the extent of the madcap goofiness in the helicopter ride is too much for some 007 diehards.

Historical Examples

Come down to breakfast, madcap, and come down lightly, or you'll wake your mother.

For once the madcap girl got the better of the practised courtier.

There was certainly no plan too madcap for Peachy to undertake.

We should have thought at once the prank that madcap would be at!

She wants instead a fortune‑teller, a madcap like Ydo Carrothers.

madcap

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for madcap

Origin of madcap