- present participle of madden.
maddening
Americanadjective
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driving to madness or frenzy.
a maddening thirst.
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infuriating or exasperating.
his maddening indifference to my pleas.
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raging; furious.
a maddening wind.
adjective
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serving to send mad
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extremely annoying; exasperating
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of maddening
Explanation
Maddening things are extremely irritating: they make you mad. Some drivers have the maddening habit of following other cars too closely on the highway. If something annoys you a lot, it's maddening. You might try to ignore the maddening tune your sister keeps whistling, or decide to leave a movie half way through because of the maddening acting style of its leading man. The adjective maddening comes from the less-common verb madden, "annoy someone," or "drive someone insane." Both words are rooted in the Old English gemædde, "out of one's mind."
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.
This is all the more maddening in Milwaukee because, in 2008, the Brewers tried their best.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Ford told reporters on Monday that the neighbourly squabbles can be maddening.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The sound is not just big and bold, but scrubbed clean by AI with the goal of maddening perfection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
And in 2024, Rose acquired Karl-Anthony Towns, a center known for a sweet shooting stroke and a maddening foul habit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
“No telling. There are so many people being moved around, one station at a time. It’s hard to get messages through. The railroad is God’s work, but maddening to manage.”
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
