MAD

huffy, mad, sore

(adjective) roused to anger; “stayed huffy a good while”- Mark Twain; “she gets mad when you wake her up so early”; “mad at his friend”; “sore over a remark”

brainsick, crazy, demented, disturbed, mad, sick, unbalanced, unhinged

(adjective) affected with madness or insanity; “a man who had gone mad”

delirious, excited, frantic, mad, unrestrained

(adjective) marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion; “a crowd of delirious baseball fans”; “something frantic in their gaiety”; “a mad whirl of pleasure”

harebrained, insane, mad

(adjective) very foolish; “harebrained ideas”; “took insane risks behind the wheel”; “a completely mad scheme to build a bridge between two mountains”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

mad (comparative madder, )

Insane; crazy, mentally deranged.

(chiefly, US; informal in UK) Angry, annoyed.

(UK, informal) Bizarre; incredible.

Wildly confused or excited.

Extremely foolish or unwise; irrational; imprudent.

(colloquial, usually with for or about) Extremely enthusiastic about; crazy about; infatuated with; overcome with desire for.

(of animals) Abnormally ferocious or furious; or, rabid, affected with rabies.

(slang, chiefly Northeastern US) Intensifier, signifies an abundance or high quality of a thing; very, much or many.

(of a compass needle) Having impaired polarity.

Usage notes

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

In the United States and Canada, the word mad almost always refers to anger rather than insanity, but such usage is still considered informal by some speakers and incorrectly labeled as such even in North American English by most UK dictionaries. This is due to an old campaign (since 1781 by amateur language pundits) to discredit this equally old and respectable meaning of the word that was more effective in the UK than in North America, and despite use by Shakespeare, for example.

On the other hand, if one is described as "went mad" or having "gone mad" in North America, this denotes insanity, and not anger. Meanwhile, if one "is mad at" something or has "been mad about" something, it is understood that they are angered rather than insane. In addition, such derivatives as "madness", "madman", "madhouse" and "madly" always denote insanity, irrespective of whether one is in the Commonwealth or in North America.

Synonyms

• (insane): See also insane

• (angry): See also angry

• (slang: Intensifier, much): wicked, mighty, kinda, helluv, hella.

Adverb

mad (not comparable)

(slang, New England, New York and UK, dialect) Intensifier; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly; very; unbelievably.

Synonyms

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

Verb

mad (third-person singular simple present mads, present participle madding, simple past and past participle madded)

(obsolete, intransitive) To be or become mad. [14th-19th c.]

(now colloquial US) To madden, to anger, to frustrate. [from 15th c.]

Anagrams

• ADM, AMD, Adm., DAM, DMA, MDA, adm., dam

Noun

MAD (countable and uncountable, plural MADs)

Initialism of mutually assured destruction.

Abbreviation of magnetic anomaly detector.

Proper noun

MAD

(programming) Acronym of Michigan algorithm decoder, a programming language, a variant of ALGOL, developed in 1959 at the University of Michigan.

Anagrams

• ADM, AMD, Adm., DAM, DMA, MDA, adm., dam

Source: Wiktionary


Mad, obs. p. p.

Definition: of Made. Chaucer.

Mad, a. [Compar. Madder; superl. Maddest.] Etym: [AS. gem, gemad, mad; akin to OS. gem foolish, OHG. gameit, Icel. mei to hurt, Goth. gamáids weak, broken.

1. Disordered in intellect; crazy; insane. I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad. Shak.

2. Excited beyond self-control or the restraint of reason; inflamed by violent or uncontrollable desire, passion, or appetite; as, to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred; mad against political reform. It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Jer. 1. 88. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Acts xxvi. 11.

3. Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation, fury, or extreme rashness. "Mad demeanor." Milton. Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace. Franklin. The mad promise of Cleon was fulfilled. Jowett (Thucyd.).

4. Extravagant; immoderate. "Be mad and merry." Shak. "Fetching mad bounds." Shak.

5. Furious with rage, terror, or disease; -- said of the lower animals; as, a mad bull; esp., having hydrophobia; rabid; as, a mad dog.

6. Angry; out of patience; vexed; as, to get mad at a person. [Colloq.]

7. Having impaired polarity; -- applied to a compass needle. [Colloq.] Like mad, like a mad person; in a furious manner; as, to run like mad. L'Estrange.

– To run mad. (a) To become wild with excitement. (b) To run wildly about under the influence of hydrophobia; to become affected with hydrophobia.

– To run mad after, to pursue under the influence of infatuation or immoderate desire. "The world is running mad after farce." Dryden.

Mad, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Madded; p. pr. & vb. n. Madding.]

Definition: To make mad or furious; to madden. Had I but seen thy picture in this plight, It would have madded me. Shak.

Mad, v. i.

Definition: To be mad; to go mad; to rave. See Madding. [Archaic] Chaucer. Festus said with great voice, Paul thou maddest. Wyclif (Acts).

Mad, n. Etym: [AS. ma; akin to D. & G. made, Goth. mapa, and prob. to E. moth.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: An earthworm. [Written also made.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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18 December 2024

ROOT

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