Nearby Words
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
Madding
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
adjective
1.
mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
2.
enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.
3.
(of animals)
a.
abnormally furious; ferocious: a mad bull.
b.
affected with rabies; rabid: a mad dog.
4.
extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational: a mad scheme to invade France.
5.
EXPANDwildly excited or confused; frantic: mad haste.
noun
9.
an angry or ill-tempered period, mood, or spell: The last time he had a mad on, it lasted for days.
verb (used with object)
10.
Archaic. to make mad.
verb (used without object)
Idioms11.
Archaic. to be, become, or act mad.
12.
like mad, Informal. with great haste, impulsiveness, energy, or enthusiasm: She ran like mad to catch the bus.
13.
mad as a hatter, completely insane.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English mad (adj.), madden (intransitive v., derivative of the adj.); Old English gemǣd(e)d, past participle of *gemǣdan to make mad, akin to gemād mad, foolish; cognate with Old Saxon gemēd, Old High German gimeit foolish
before 900; Middle English mad (adj.), madden (intransitive v., derivative of the adj.); Old English gemǣd(e)d, past participle of *gemǣdan to make mad, akin to gemād mad, foolish; cognate with Old Saxon gemēd, Old High German gimeit foolish
Related forms
half-mad, adjective
half-mad·ly, adverb
half-mad·ness, noun
qua·si-mad, adjective
qua·si-mad·ly, adverb
EXPANDSynonyms
1. lunatic, maniacal, crazed, crazy. 2. furious, exasperated, raging, wrathful, irate. 4. ill-advised; unsafe, dangerous, perilous. Mad, crazy, insane are used to characterize wildly impractical or foolish ideas, actions, etc. Mad suggests senselessness and excess: The scheme of buying the bridge was absolutely mad. In informal usage, crazy suggests recklessness and impracticality: a crazy young couple. Insane is used with some opprobrium to express unsoundness and possible harmfulness: The new traffic system is simply insane. 5. frenzied.
1. lunatic, maniacal, crazed, crazy. 2. furious, exasperated, raging, wrathful, irate. 4. ill-advised; unsafe, dangerous, perilous. Mad, crazy, insane are used to characterize wildly impractical or foolish ideas, actions, etc. Mad suggests senselessness and excess: The scheme of buying the bridge was absolutely mad. In informal usage, crazy suggests recklessness and impracticality: a crazy young couple. Insane is used with some opprobrium to express unsoundness and possible harmfulness: The new traffic system is simply insane. 5. frenzied.
Antonyms
4. sensible, practical; sound, safe.
4. sensible, practical; sound, safe.
Usage note
Mad meaning “enraged, angry” has been used since 1300, and this sense is a very common one. Because some teachers and usage critics insist that the only correct meaning of mad is “mentally disturbed, insane,” mad is often replaced by angry in formal contexts: The President is angry at Congress for overriding his veto.
Mad meaning “enraged, angry” has been used since 1300, and this sense is a very common one. Because some teachers and usage critics insist that the only correct meaning of mad is “mentally disturbed, insane,” mad is often replaced by angry in formal contexts: The President is angry at Congress for overriding his veto.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To madding
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
mad
O.E. gemædde (pl.) "out of one's mind" (usually implying also violent excitement), also "foolish," earlier gemæded "rendered insane," pp. of a lost verb *gemædan "to make insane or foolish" (related to gemad "mad"), from P.Gmc. *ga-maid-jan, demonstrative form of *ga-maid-az "changed
EXPAND(for the worse), abnormal" (cf. O.S. gimed "foolish," O.H.G. gimeit "foolish, vain, boastful," Goth. gamaiþs "crippled, wounded," O.N. meiða "to hurt, maim"), from intensive prefix *ga- + PIE *moito-, pp. of base *mei- "to change" (cf. L. mutare "to change," mutuus "done in exchange," migrare "to change one's place of residence;" see mutable). Emerged in M.E. to replace the more usual O.E. 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 c.1300, but deplored by Rev. John Witherspoon (1781) as an Americanism, and now competes in Amer.Eng. with angry for this sense. Of dogs, "affected with rabies," from 1800. Phrase mad as a March hare is attested from 1520s, via notion of breeding season; mad as a hatter (1857) is said to be from erratic behavior caused by prolonged exposure to poison mercuric nitrate, used in making felt hats. Mad as a wet hen is from 1823. Mad money is attested from 1922; mad scientist is from 1940.
madding
action of the obs. verb mad "to make insane," c.1300; now principally in the phrase far from the madding crowd, title of a novel by Hardy (1874), who lifted it from a line of Gray's "Elegy" (1749), which seems to echo a line from Drummond of Hawthornden from 1614.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
mad (mād)
adj.
Angry; resentful.
Suffering from a disorder of the mind; insane.
Affected by rabies; rabid.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
