madman
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of madman
First recorded in 1300–50, madman is from Middle English madd man. See mad, man
Explanation
Madman is an old fashioned, derogatory term for a severely mentally ill person. These days, calling someone with a serious psychiatric illness a madman would be offensive. You're most likely to hear dangerous criminals described as madmen, although it's also common to use this word for someone who acts recklessly: "Look how fast that madman is driving!" Another way to use madman is to emphasize the intensity of something: "She worked on that paper like a madman, writing the entire thing in just a few hours."
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.
See Examples For:
To establish the right note of terror on a fog-strewn set by Arnulfo Maldonado that resembles the private chamber of a writer or madman, Page begins with Lady Macbeth’s chilling incantation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2026
Almost always described as a “disappointed job seeker,” Guiteau was a madman, and Mr. Macfadyen’s portrayal is of both man and madness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
"Bibi acted like a madman," a White House official told the news website Axios.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
But heavy metal’s favorite madman leaves us with his reminder that “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll.”
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2025
Emily clapped both hands over her mouth and completely forgot there had been a madman book collector on the hunt for them.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
It’s another thing to go elbow to elbow with a group of elite madmen barreling down an Alpine pass at 50 miles per hour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Yohji is one of fashion’s great madmen and I wanted to take the trousers to someone who would look at it as a job and not a bizarre art piece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
Things got pretty weird on the food scene, too, with the R&D labs for the nation’s fast-food chains seemingly overtaken by Frankensteinian madmen.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023
There are few more efficient ways to unleash the demons, madmen, and ghosts hidden in the darkest crevices of the human psyche than to inject anxiety into our imaginations.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2022
I know why my father said the Dauntless were a pack of madmen.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
