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madwoman

American  
[mad-woom-uhn] / ˈmædˌwʊm ən /

noun

plural

madwomen

  1. a woman who is or behaves as if insane.

madwoman British  
/ ˈmædwʊmən /

noun

  1. a woman who is insane, esp one who behaves violently; lunatic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of madwoman

1400–50; late Middle English. See mad, woman

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.

As it turns out, Nina isn’t the unhinged madwoman she’s perceived to be.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2026

“There’s a fine line between madwoman and dreamer,” Maxine will observe, from the vantage of that line.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2024

Biographer Judith Thurman, writing in the New Yorker in 2001, called Dr. Milford’s biography “one of the big literary events of the feminist new wave — the first liberation of a madwoman from the attic.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 1, 2022

"My sister, my hilarious, charming, perfect sister: now other. The irate madwoman on the train," Leddy says.

From Fox News • Mar. 28, 2022

And while the madwoman was accustomed to a bit of discomfort, the movement of the paper wings was having an effect on her skin.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

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.