madcap

American  

[mad-kap] / ˈmædˌkæp /

adjective

1. wildly or heedlessly impulsive; reckless; rash.

   a madcap scheme.

---

noun

1. a madcap person.

madcap British  

/ ˈmædˌkæp /

adjective

1. impulsive, reckless, or lively

---

noun

1. an impulsive, reckless, or lively person

Etymology

Origin of madcap

First recorded in 1580–90; mad + cap ¹

---

Explanation

Madcap things are done in a foolish, rash, or impulsive way, without planning or thought. Your madcap adventure might include a spur-of-the-moment bus ride to a nearby city without enough money in your pocket to buy lunch. The adjective madcap, which can simply mean "impetuous," can also have a sense of "funny and eccentric." A movie that's described as a madcap comedy will probably be full of broad slapstick and laugh-out-loud physical humor. Madcap, dating from the 16th century, originally meant "lunatic" or "crazy person," from the "head" sense of cap — in other words, a madcap was a "crazy head."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

madcap

Instead, the movie is a carnival ride of random madcap adventures infused with slapstick and colorfully freaky creatures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

The key stories of a madcap afternoon were:

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Shelton, meanwhile, is coming off the biggest victory of his career, a madcap, wee-hours dethroning of defending champ Alcaraz which also went to a fifth-set tiebreak and ran all the way until 3:33 a.m.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Bree begins the film desperately wanting gender-affirming surgery, so much so that her urgency incites the film’s madcap mumblecore events.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

Color was splashed through the woods as if it had been thrown about by some madcap wastrel who spilled out, during the weeks of one brief autumn, beauty enough to last for years.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---