maddening

American  

[mad-n-ing] / ˈmæd n ɪŋ /

adjective

1. driving to madness or frenzy.

   a maddening thirst.

2. infuriating or exasperating.

   his maddening indifference to my pleas.

3. raging; furious.

   a maddening wind.

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ˈmaddening British  

/ ˈmædənɪŋ /

adjective

1. serving to send mad

2. extremely annoying; exasperating

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Other Word Forms

• maddeningly adverb
• maddeningness noun

Etymology

Origin of maddening

First recorded in 1735–45; madden + -ing ²

Example Sentences

During testing, I ran into another maddening keyboard quirk, where I tapped the right letters but iOS spit out the wrong ones.

From The Wall Street Journal

If the plate umpire goes, with it goes one of baseball’s most entertaining/maddening presences–a puff-chested judge and jury, a baked-in villain, an essential part of the game’s pacing and flow.

From The Wall Street Journal

And still we were not allowed to sit: there was a last wait while the matron with maddening deliberateness checked off our documents against a list.

From Literature

Theirs is the maddening task of identifying dozens of notable artists sending radically different messages across a range of mediums, and then trying to make the work cohere in a single exhibition.

From The Wall Street Journal

She landed so close she drenched me with water but in her mad run she’d left the bank blind, wanting only to get in the water and away from the maddening flies.

From Literature

Related Words

• aggravating
• annoying
• exasperating
• frustrating
• infuriating
• troubling