raving

[ rey-ving ]
See synonyms for: ravingravingsravingly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. talking wildly; delirious; frenzied: a raving maniac.

  2. Informal. extraordinary or remarkable: a raving beauty.

adverb
  1. furiously or wildly: a remark that made me raving mad.

noun
  1. Usually ravings .

    • irrational, incoherent talk: Putting him in a straitjacket did not stop his ravings.

    • wildly extravagant or outrageous talk; bombast.

Origin of raving

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; see rave1, -ing1, -ing2

Other words from raving

  • rav·ing·ly, adverb
  • un·rav·ing, adjective

Words Nearby raving

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use raving in a sentence

  • The man was raving mad, and the captain was obliged to have him bound hand and foot, and chained to the mast.

  • They starred it in the far West mostly, until her health and mind gave way, and she went raving mad on the stage, I believe.

    The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes
  • Vile aniseed brandy—liquid fire—was sold cheap, and many a man who began the day cool and sober ended it as a raving madman.

    The Chequers | James Runciman
  • You who will not wish to see her languish—suffer—go mad—Thomas, I am not the raving being you take me for.

    The Circular Study | Anna Katharine Green
  • Are the raving words, the wicked thoughts of a misguided, vicious woman to be believed by those who hear them?

    In the Onyx Lobby | Carolyn Wells

British Dictionary definitions for raving

raving

/ (ˈreɪvɪŋ) /


adjective
    • delirious; frenzied

    • (as adverb): raving mad

  1. informal (intensifier): a raving beauty

noun
  1. (usually plural) frenzied, irrational, or wildly extravagant talk or utterances

Derived forms of raving

  • ravingly, adverb

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