madder; maddest
1
: arising from, indicative of, or marked by mental disorder
—not used technically
2
a
: completely unrestrained by reason and judgment : unable to think in a clear or sensible way
driven mad by the pain
mad with jealousy
b
: incapable of being explained or accounted for
a mad decision
3
informal
: intensely angry or displeased
What are you so mad about?
Everyone was mad about the delay.
That kind of behavior really gets me mad.
I'm so mad I could spit.
4
: carried away by enthusiasm or desire : extremely or excessively fond of or enthusiastic about something or someone
mad about horses
… there is a nouveau riche demographic mad for diamonds and Lamborghinis …—
Kevin D. Williamson
—often used in combinationKevin D. Williamsontrivia known to only the most movie-mad film buffs
a power-mad villain
money-mad
6
: marked by wild gaiety and merriment : hilarious
… of their childhood, of the mad pranks they played …—Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill7
: intensely excited : frantic
… driving him mad with jealousy.—Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson8
: marked by intense and often chaotic activity : wild
a mad scramble
9
US, informal
: great in quantity, amount, extent, or degree
making mad money
Her performance won her mad respect from fans and peers alike, but the media response was tempered at best.—Joan Morgan
Joan Morgansee also mad as a hatter
mutual assured destruction; mutually assured destruction
Synonyms
Adjective
- angered
- angry
- apoplectic
- ballistic
- cheesed off [chiefly British]
- choleric
- enraged
- foaming
- fuming
- furious
- hopping
- horn-mad
- hot
- incensed
- indignant
- inflamed
- enflamed
- infuriate
- infuriated
- irate
- ireful
- livid
- outraged
- rabid
- rankled
- riled
- riley
- roiled
- shirty [chiefly British]
- sore
- steamed up
- steaming
- teed off
- ticked
- wrathful
- wroth
Verb
- anger
- enrage
- incense
- inflame
- enflame
- infuriate
- ire
- madden
- outrage
- rankle
- rile
- roil
- steam up
- tick off
Noun
Examples of mad in a Sentence
Adjective
If you keep teasing that dog, you'll make him mad.
What are you so mad about?
That guy makes me so mad!
a movie about a mad scientist
She's mad for a cute boy in her class.
He's mad keen on sailing.
Verb
her endless excuses for not doing the work madded her overburdened coworkers
Noun
watch out, the boss has got a bit of a mad on just now
Recent Examples on the WebRyan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Oct. 2024
If Garcia was Captain Trips, Lesh could be General Trips: the band’s gatekeeper, mad scientist, and, ultimately, the fiercest defender of their mission.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2024
Though Venus is mad at Jupiter, the planet of desire is still inclined to comply, forming a happy relationship with Chiron to facilitate romantic recovery.
—Jennifer Culp, Them, 25 Oct. 2024
All of those happened at Olivia Rodrigo’s first arena tour — but her favorite part of the show was when those eardrum-rattling cries were, in fact, mad as hell.
—Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mad 
Adjective
And speaking of the movie’s patchy political considerations, some timelines aren’t given as great a depth as the Youngs’, including the wonderful Nikki Amuka-Bird and Nicholas Pinnock as the Black couple who buy the Youngs’ house after Richard and Margaret drive themselves mad and out of it.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Oct. 2024
If Garcia was Captain Trips, Lesh could be General Trips: the band’s gatekeeper, mad scientist, and, ultimately, the fiercest defender of their mission.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2024
Though Venus is mad at Jupiter, the planet of desire is still inclined to comply, forming a happy relationship with Chiron to facilitate romantic recovery.
—Jennifer Culp, Them, 25 Oct. 2024
All of those happened at Olivia Rodrigo’s first arena tour — but her favorite part of the show was when those eardrum-rattling cries were, in fact, mad as hell.
—Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mad
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mad
Cite this Entry
“Mad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mad. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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