madder
1 Americannoun
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any plant of the genus Rubia, especially the climbing R. tinctorum, of Europe, having open clusters of small, yellowish flowers.
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the root of this plant, formerly used in dyeing.
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the dye or coloring matter itself.
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a color produced by such a dye.
adjective
noun
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any of several rubiaceous plants of the genus Rubia, esp the Eurasian R. tinctoria, which has small yellow flowers and a red fleshy root
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the root of this plant
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a dark reddish-purple dye formerly obtained by fermentation of this root; identical to the synthetic dye, alizarin
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a red lake obtained from alizarin and an inorganic base; used as a pigment in inks and paints
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of madder
before 1000; Middle English mad ( d ) er, Old English mæd ( e ) re; cognate with Old Norse mathra, Old High German matara
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:
"I'm mad about the price, but I'm even madder about why it's so high," the 28-year-old told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 2, 2026
You can't be any madder at us than I am...
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
She grows a dye garden of rarer plants like indigo and madder, along with marigold flowers, sunflower seeds and mushrooms.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Even madder than our list of the best TV shows on Netflix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
I almost felt like a sellout for not being madder.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
The ingestion of certain plants as sedges and scouring rushes is also said to cause a bloody condition; madders impart a reddish tinge due to coloring matter absorbed.
From Outlines of Dairy Bacteriology, 8th edition A Concise Manual for the Use of Students in Dairying by Russell, H. L. (Harry Luman)
In this sized tube all the high-priced colors are put up; the cadmiums, the madders, vermilions, and ultramarines and cobalts.
From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Parkhurst, Daniel Burleigh
Opaque and Transparent Colors.—Some colors, like the madders, have a jelly-like consistency when mixed with oil, others, the earths among them, are dense and opaque.
From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Parkhurst, Daniel Burleigh
The earths and the browns of madder are all good, and the mixing of madders and good blues will make all the shades of violet and purple you can possibly want in their purity.
From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Parkhurst, Daniel Burleigh
But the light yellows, and the madders and cobalt, will often make you groan at the rapidity of their disappearance.
From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Parkhurst, Daniel Burleigh
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.
