Mad

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æd

Origin

Middle English medd, madd, from Old English gemǣd ("enraged"), from gemād ("silly, mad"), from Proto-Germanic *maidaz (compare Old High German gimeit ("foolish, crazy"), Gothic gamaiþs ("crippled")), past participle of *maidijaną ("to cripple, injure"), from Proto-Indo-European *mei ("to change") (compare Old Irish máel ("bald, dull"), Old Lithuanian ap-maitinti ("to wound"), Sanskrit ).

Full definition of mad

Adjective

1. Insane; crazy, mentally deranged.
   You want to spend $1000 on a pair of shoes? Are you mad?
   He's got this mad idea that he's irresistible to women.
• ShakespeareI have heard my grandsire say full oft,
  Extremity of griefs would make men mad.
2. (chiefly US; UK dated + regional) Angry, annoyed.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 6, She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.
3. Are you mad at me?
4. Wildly confused or excited.to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred
• Bible, Jer. 1. 88It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
• 1787: The Fair Syrian, R. Bage, p.314My brother, quiet as a cat, seems perfectly contented with the internal feelings of his felicity. The Marquis, mad as a kitten, is all in motion to express it, from tongue to heel.
5. Extremely foolish or unwise; irrational; imprudent.
6. (colloquial, usually with for or about) Extremely enthusiastic about; crazy about; infatuated with; overcome with desire for.
   Aren't you just mad for that red dress?
7. (of animals) Abnormally ferocious or furious; or, rabid, affected with rabies.
   a mad dog
8. (slang, chiefly Northeastern US) Intensifier, signifies an abundance or high quality of a thing; very, much or many.
   I gotta give you mad props for scoring us those tickets.   Their lead guitarist has mad skills.   There are always mad girls at those parties.
9. (of a compass needle) Having impaired polarity.

Usage notes

While within the United States and Canada, the word mad does generally imply anger rather than insanity, such usage is still considered informal. Furthermore, if one is described as having "gone mad" or has "went mad", this will unquestionably be taken as denoting insanity, and not anger. Meanwhile, if one "is mad at" something or has "been mad about" something, it will be assumed that they are angered rather than insane. In addition, if the word is understood as being used literally, it will most likely be taken as meaning "insane". Also, in addition to the former, such derivatives as "madness", "madman", "madhouse" and "madly" purely denote insanity, irrespective of whether one is in the Commonwealth or in the United States.

Lastly, within Commonwealth countries other than Canada, mad typically implies the insane or crazy sense more so than the angry sense.

Synonyms

• (insane) See also
• (angry) See also
• (slang: Intensifier, much) wicked, mighty, kinda, helluv, hella.

Adverb

1. (slang, New England, New York and UK, dialect) Intensifier; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly; very; unbelievably.He was driving mad slow.It's mad hot today.He seems mad keen on her.

Synonyms

• (slang: Intensifier; very) hella; helluv; wicked

Derived terms

• mad as a hatter
• madden
• madding
• madhouse
• madly

Verb

1. (now colloquial US) To madden, to anger, to frustrate.
• c. 1595, William Shakespeare, , Act V Scene 5:This musick mads me, let it sound no more.
• 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.2.4.iv:He that mads others, if he were so humoured, would be as mad himself, as much grieved and tormented ....

Anagrams

• adm.
• AMD
• dam
• DMA