madden

American  

[mad-n] / ˈmæd n /

verb (used with object)

1. to anger or infuriate.

   The delays maddened her.

   Synonyms:

   annoy, vex, irritate, exasperate, inflame, anger, enrage, provoke

   Antonyms:

   mollify, calm

2. to make insane.

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verb (used without object)

1. to become mad; act as if mad; rage.

madden British  

/ ˈmædən /

verb

1. to make or become mad or angry

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Other Word Forms

• unmaddened adjective

Etymology

Origin of madden

First recorded in 1725–35; mad + -en ¹

Explanation

Use the verb madden when something exasperates you or drives you up a wall. Terrible traffic when you're late for an appointment is sure to madden you. If something makes you mad or gets on your nerves, it maddens you. If your dogs tend to madden you, it means that they drive you crazy. When you madden your dogs, you get them so riled up that they run around the house barking. The earliest use of the verb was literally "to make mad or insane," though by the early 1800's it meant "to drive to distraction."

Example Sentences

Written and directed by the Australian actor Frances O’Connor, making a vibrant feature filmmaking debut, it will surely madden sticklers for accuracy, which is all to the good.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2023

Not the least of Michael’s gifts is the ability to madden other minds.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 12, 2018

The glacier-paced interactions of the actors here may initially madden you; by the end, the sense of the oppressive weight that controls their motions breaks your heart.

From New York Times • May 22, 2016

They find little to suppress, but cause long delays that madden newswriters in hours of crisis.

From Time Magazine Archive

They must have been things meant not to quiet it but to madden it.

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis