madhouse

American  

[mad-hous] / ˈmædˌhaʊs /

noun

plural

madhouses

1. a hospital for the confinement and treatment of mentally disturbed persons.

2. a wild, confused, and often noisy place, set of circumstances, etc..

   The office was a madhouse today.

   Synonyms:

   bedlam

---

madhouse British  

/ ˈmædˌhaʊs /

noun

1. a mental hospital or asylum

2. a state of uproar or confusion

---

Etymology

Origin of madhouse

First recorded in 1680–90; mad + house

Explanation

A madhouse is an old fashioned and derogatory word for a psychiatric hospital. It was once quite common to talk about mentally ill people being sent to the madhouse, but that would be offensive today. While the many terms for psychiatric hospital (or the archaic insane asylum), including madhouse and funny farm or loony bin are no longer an acceptable way to talk about mental health care, most of them are commonly used to informally describe confused or chaotic situations. It would make sense to describe a roomful of eight year-olds running around and screaming happily as a madhouse, for example.

Example Sentences

The team was undecided on how well Mellencamp’s biggest hits—sepia-tinted odes to small-town America—fit today’s college football madhouse cathedrals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Tim O’Reilly, a media writer in Chicago, says that if he didn’t come to a streaming service with a title already in mind, the search would be a madhouse.

From Salon • May 22, 2025

Lurking behind Foreman’s madhouse phantasmagorias is the mind of the artist interrogating its own secret chambers.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2024

Mr Acciardo described the scene as a "madhouse" when first responders arrived.

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2024

The TSA checkpoint is a madhouse, which never happens here.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• psychiatric hospital