Definition of "mad"

mad

/ˈmæd/

adjective
comparative madder, superlative maddest
1. (chiefly British Isles) Insane; crazy, mentally deranged.
  Quotations
  I have heard my grandsire say full oft, / Extremity of griefs would make men mad.
  c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene i]
  Dr. Manuel: Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!
  2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Eden Prime
2. (chiefly US; informal in UK) Angry, annoyed.
  Quotations
  And I punished them oft in euery Synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them euen vnto strange cities.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Acts 26:11
  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.
  1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
3. (chiefly in the negative, informal) Used litotically to indicate satisfaction or approval.
  Quotations
  I'm not mad at this little house, though.
  2019, The Real Housewives of Atlanta‎, season 13, episode 3
  But I mean, once the flow was there, nobody was mad at it.
  2019, “'Thank U' Text: Ariana Grande's Collaborators Break Down The Artist's Latest Album”, in NPR‎
4. (UK, informal) Bizarre; incredible.
5. Wildly confused or excited.
  Quotations
  It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Jeremiah 1:88
  My 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.
  1787, R. Bage, The Fair Syrian, page 314
6. Extremely foolish or unwise; irrational; imprudent.
7. (colloquial, usually with for or about) Extremely enthusiastic about; crazy about; infatuated with; overcome with desire for.
8. (of animals) Abnormally ferocious or furious; or, rabid, affected with rabies.
9. (slang, chiefly New England, New York, African-American Vernacular) Intensifier, signifying abundance or high quality of a thing; very, much or many.
10. (of a compass needle) Having impaired polarity.
adverb
not comparable
1. (slang, chiefly New England, New York, African-American Vernacular and UK, dialectal) Intensifier; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly; very; unbelievably.
verb
third-person singular simple present mads, present participle madding, simple past and past participle madded
1. (obsolete, intransitive) To be or become mad.
  Quotations
  The imperial Elizabetta gazed with surprise at the youthful and unpretending appearance of the little being that had set the world madding.
  1832, Tales of the Alhambra, Washington Irving
2. (now colloquial US, Jamaica) To madden, to anger, to frustrate.
  Quotations
  This musick mads me, let it sound no more.
  1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene 5]
  He that mads others, if he were so humoured, would be as mad himself, as much grieved and tormented […] .
  1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection iv
  Carolina! Whine your body gyal! Make Dem know say you have it fi mad dem
  1993 March 22, “Oh Carolina”, in Pure Pleasure‎, performed by Shaggy (musician)

Definition of "mad"

mad

adjective

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Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

adverb

verb

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