stark raving mad

Idioms  

1. Totally crazy, as in The constant uncertainty over his job is making him stark raving mad. This term, meaning “completely wildly insane,” is used both hyperbolically and literally. Versions of this expression appear to have sprung from the minds of great literary figures. Stark mad was first recorded by poet John Skelton in 1489; stark raving was first recorded by playwright John Beaumont in 1648; stark staring mad was first used by John Dryden in 1693. The current wording, stark raving mad, first appeared in Henry Fielding's The Intriguing Chambermaid in 1734.

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Example Sentences

He looked at me as if I was stark raving mad.

From BBC

But I went absolutely, stark raving mad.

From Literature

He is mad, stark, raving mad, and it’s no use my trying to stop him.

From Literature

Building up to a fleet of 500 ships is not just unaffordable, but a sign of the degree to which the Pentagon has an urge to run stark raving mad with taxpayer dollars.

From Salon

And then Trump, having driven his foes crazy, would, in the fashion of narcissists, become the normal guy who looks down from the dais at the writhing mass of human madness and, with the cool detachment of a visiting alien, observe that the losers seem to have gone stark raving mad.

From Washington Post

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