Synonyms for mad


Grammar : Adj
Spell : mad
Phonetic Transcription : mæd

Top 10 synonyms for mad Other synonyms for the word mad

Définition of mad

Origin :
  • late 13c., from Old English gemædde (plural) "out of one's mind" (usually implying also violent excitement), also "foolish, extremely stupid," earlier gemæded "rendered insane," past participle of a lost verb *gemædan "to make insane or foolish," from Proto-Germanic *ga-maid-jan, demonstrative form of *ga-maid-az "changed (for the worse), abnormal" (cf. Old Saxon gimed "foolish," Old High German gimeit "foolish, vain, boastful," Gothic gamaiþs "crippled, wounded," Old Norse meiða "to hurt, maim"), from intensive prefix *ga- + PIE *moito-, past participle of root *mei- "to change" (cf. Latin mutare "to change," mutuus "done in exchange," migrare "to change one's place of residence;" see mutable).
  • Emerged in Middle English to replace the more usual Old English word, wod (see wood (adj.)). Sense of "beside oneself with excitement or enthusiasm" is from early 14c. Meaning "beside oneself with anger" is attested from early 14c., but deplored by Rev. John Witherspoon (1781) as an Americanism. It now competes in American English with angry for this sense. Of animals, "affected with rabies," from late 13c. Phrase mad as a March hare is attested from 1520s, via notion of breeding season; mad as a hatter is from 1829 as "demented," 1837 as "enraged," according to a modern theory supposedly from erratic behavior caused by prolonged exposure to poison mercuric nitrate, used in making felt hats. For mad as a wet hen see hen. Mad money is attested from 1922; mad scientist is from 1891.
  • adj crazy, insane
  • adj angry
  • adj enthusiastic; in love
Example sentences :
  • He was so handsome and so gifted, and there were women who were mad about him.
  • Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • Heaven knows what mad instinct was at the back of his brain.
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
  • But wasn't it awfully risky to keep making him mad like that?
  • Extract from : « The Trail Book » by Mary Austin
  • Were they all mad—was he not standing with one foot in the penitentiary?
  • Extract from : « Thoroughbreds » by W. A. Fraser
  • If it mad not been for Ben, nothing more would have been done or said about, the matter.
  • Extract from : « Biographical Stories » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • When the Mad Fakir arrived, they would fight and kill the infidels.
  • Extract from : « The Story of the Malakand Field Force » by Sir Winston S. Churchill
  • "It's the interference makes me mad," Mrs. North declared, hotly.
  • Extract from : « Quaint Courtships » by Various
  • It's about a girl that nearly gets torn to pieces by a mad lion.
  • Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
  • You have stolen my grandchild's heart from me; with a thousand inventions you have driven her mad!
  • Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson
  • And once or twice he has got as mad as a hen at her for smilin'.
  • Extract from : « Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 1. » by Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)

Antonyms for mad

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019