mad
adjective
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
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mad
1 American
[mad]
/ mæd /
adjective
madder,
comparative
maddest
superlative
-
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
-
enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.
-
(of animals)
-
abnormally furious; ferocious.
a mad bull.
-
affected with rabies; rabid.
a mad dog.
-
-
extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational.
a mad scheme to invade France.
- Synonyms:
- perilous, dangerous, unsafe, ill-advised
-
wildly excited or confused; frantic.
mad haste.
- Synonyms:
- frenzied
-
overcome by desire, eagerness, enthusiasm, etc.; excessively or uncontrollably fond; infatuated.
He's mad about the opera.
-
wildly lively and merry; enjoyably hilarious.
to have a mad time at the Mardi Gras.
-
(of wind, storms, etc.) furious in violence.
A mad gale swept across the channel.
-
Slang. much or many.
Mad props for getting this organization off the ground.
adverb
verb (used with object)
madded,
madding
verb (used without object)
madded,
madding
idioms
-
like mad, with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.
-
have a mad on, to be angry for a period of time; be in a bad mood.
The last time he had a mad on, it lasted for days.
-
mad as a hatter, completely insane.
MAD
2
American
[mad]
/ mæd /
noun
mad.
3
American
abbreviation
mad
1
British
/ mæd /
adjective
-
mentally deranged; insane
-
senseless; foolish
a mad idea
-
informal (often foll by at) angry; resentful
-
wildly enthusiastic (about) or fond (of)
mad about football
football-mad
-
extremely excited or confused; frantic
a mad rush
-
temporarily overpowered by violent reactions, emotions, etc
mad with grief
-
-
unusually ferocious
a mad buffalo
-
afflicted with rabies
-
-
informal with great energy, enthusiasm, or haste; wildly
-
crazily eccentric
verb
MAD
2
British
/ mæd /
acronym
mad
More Idioms
Usage
Mad meaning “enraged, angry” has been used since 1400, and this sense is a very common one. Because some teachers and usage critics insist that the only correct meaning of mad is “mentally disturbed, insane,” mad is often replaced by angry in formal contexts: The president is angry at Congress for overriding his veto.
Synonym Usage
Mad, crazy, insane are used to characterize wildly impractical or foolish ideas, actions, etc. Mad suggests senselessness and excess: The scheme of buying the bridge was absolutely mad. In informal usage, crazy suggests recklessness and impracticality: a crazy young couple. Insane is used with some opprobrium to express unsoundness and possible harmfulness: The new traffic system is simply insane.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
half-madnessnoun
-
half-madadjective
-
maddishadjective
-
quasi-madadjective
-
unmadadjective
-
unmaddedadjective
-
half-madlyadverb
-
quasi-madlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of mad
First recorded before 900; Middle English mad (adjective), madden (intransitive verb, derivative of the adjective); Old English gemǣd “made mad,” past participle of gemǣdan (unrecorded) “to make mad,” akin to gemād “mad, foolish”; cognate with Old Saxon gemēd, Old High German gimeit “foolish”
Explanation
If you're mad about something, you've lost your temper. If you've gone mad, you've lost your mind. Just like it's more common to be angry than to be insane, you're more likely to use mad to describe someone who's ticked off than to describe someone who has serious mental problems. If you say you're “mad about” something, you're saying you like it so much it distracts you.
Vocabulary lists containing mad
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“Everyone’s gone mad for the capybara,” Paddick says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
There are psychological reasons behind mad scrambles to buy, though.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
A crazed newscaster prompts his viewers to do a wild thing: open their windows and shout, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
"Music's just gone mad and that's what we're about in our school."
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
But I was so mad at that monkey, I had to do something.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Cold War strategists thought nuclear wars would never happen because of MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Talking to MAD winner, Kevin Willows, who helped set up a bereavement walking group, Grennan revealed the importance of walking to him.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
Back in Milwaukee at age 10, we saw a feature in "MAD Magazine" called "Scenes We'd Like to See."
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2023
The next year, when Jaffee turned 100, Mad published a center-spread article, titled “Amazing All-Seeing Al Jaffee’s MAD E.S.P.,” that highlighted Jaffee’s knack for imagining cartoon contraptions that later became actual inventions.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
Buzz was in a communicative mood for someone who was SO MAD AT ME SHE COULDN'T SPEAK!!
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
“It infuriates her. It doesn’t make me mad. I feel very fortunate that I can make time during the day and do these things.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
“I had to go through it that way. … My parents were both mad. That was weeks of earfuls: ‘Man, what are you doing?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
"It's pretty mad. You can't put a price on it," Laurent Saget, who runs Terres Blanches, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026
"It drives coaches mad. They see the potential but he'll never fulfil it. It's a mental thing. It's not that he's not bothered - but he's not listening."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
Elaine, who was now as white as the Queen had been but still held herself proud and upright said: “You have driven him mad. His wits must have been weak.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
"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
"And of course now I'm even madder than I was before because I've thought of little else now for two years."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
“The more I looked at it, the madder I got,” he recalled.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
Depending on how things go, the situation might get even madder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
But Mom was mad, and I didn’t know why, and I didn’t want to make her madder.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
In one of the maddest storylines of March, Monson’s team did not go quietly in what was supposed to be his final week on the job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
In this maddest of Marches, it’s the first time since seeding began in 1979 that no team seeded better than No. 4 made the Final Four.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
The way this season has gone so far, college basketball fans could be in for the maddest March yet.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 3, 2023
This NFL season had one of the maddest scrambles to the playoffs that I can remember in all my years covering the league.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2022
Josie couldn’t even tell which specific scene he was talking about, or which awful thing one of them had done to the other she felt maddest or guiltiest about.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
That madded him and he went on from bad to worse, swung right out into wickedness.
From Samantha at Coney Island and a Thousand Other Islands by Holley, Marietta
That madded Josiah and he said they kep’ it back because they wuz clost and wanted to save.
From Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Holley, Marietta
But the critter was after her, too, and it madded him when I fired, I s’pose.”
From With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga by Foster, W. Bertram
This curs'd old Thief, no doubt, will give us Trouble, Provok'd and madded at his cool Reception.
From Ponteach The Savages of America by Moses, Montrose Jonas
To think of it madded me, because Mr. Fonda had three wealthy sons living near him, who could care for him properly with their ample means and all their servants and slaves.
From The Little Red Foot by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
Clustered barnacle-like at the end of a glorious arc of sand, Beadnell, along with the neighbouring villages of Bamburgh and Seahouses, has long been a magnet for those seeking refuge from the madding crowd.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
Far from the madding crowd, not to mention from the alluring presence of his MI6 handler and former lover, Faith Green, Gabriel works away in his cottage on a travel book about the world’s rivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
This is a crowded sports market, even with the Sonics gone for a decade and a half, and standing out from the madding crowd isn’t easy.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2023
The madding crowd functions differently on this volcanic island, with vistas so jaw-droppingly picturesque, they’re frequently punctuated by social media influencers and soon-to-be brides and grooms, along with their attendant photographers.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2022
It was exactly the madding crowd that Bobby wished would stay afar.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.