mad as a hatter

Idioms and Phrases

Also, mad as a March hare . Crazy, demented, as in She is throwing out all his clothes; she's mad as a hatter . This expression, dating from the early 1800s, alludes to exposure to the chemicals formerly used in making felt hats, which caused tremors and other nervous symptoms. The variant, dating from the 14th century, alludes to the crazy behavior of hares during rutting season, mistakenly thought to be only in March.

Example Sentences

Though Mr. Will described Ms. Thomas being “politically, mad as a hatter,” he unreasonably asserted that there is no reason to assume that she affects the jurisprudence of her husband, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

From Washington Post

Relatedly, it’s easy to blow Ginni off because, as George Will puts it, in his defense of her conduct, “She is, politically, mad as a hatter. The shelves in her mental pantry groan beneath the weight of Trumpian hysterics about the 2020 presidential election having been stolen and the republic’s certain ruination under Joe Biden.”

From Slate

She is, politically, mad as a hatter.

From Washington Post

It doesn’t take long for Onion to realize that Brown, for all his noble ambitions of emancipation, is as mad as a hatter.

From Los Angeles Times

Simply mad as a hatter how brief the wait was for this glow-in-the-dark classic.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• insane
• kooky
• mad
• nuts
• nutty
• silly
• wacky