madness

[ mad-nis ]

noun

1. the state of being mad; insanity.
2. senseless folly:

   It is sheer madness to speak as you do.

3. frenzy; rage.
4. intense excitement or enthusiasm.

madness

/ ˈmædnɪs /

noun

1. insanity; lunacy
2. extreme anger, excitement, or foolishness
3. a nontechnical word for rabies

Other Words From

• pre·madness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of madness¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, madness is from the Middle English word madnesse. See mad, -ness

Idioms and Phrases

see method in one's madness .

Example Sentences

Trying to fine-tune all that to a desired end is not only a form of madness but doomed to failure.

From The Daily Beast

But the events provoking this madness are absolutely current.

From The Daily Beast

So in the vein of March Madness, here are my picks for the Final Four of the 2014 GOP championship of crazy.

From The Daily Beast

If the U.S. does nothing, the Arab world will continue its slide into sectarian bigotry, political repression, and madness.

From The Daily Beast

The madness officially begins tomorrow: a week of fashion, partying, and celebrities on the front row.

From The Daily Beast

They joined in bands of youths and maidens and whirled down the Avenue in Bacchic madness.

From Project Gutenberg

The hotel-keepers thought I was the American tourist overtaken by that final madness they had always anticipated.

From Project Gutenberg

Cards, however, I regard as a passing madness; it merely means that even yet we have not enough to do.

From Project Gutenberg

But Jack was at that day a reckless fellow, and he lived to be passionately sorry for his splenetic madness.

From Project Gutenberg

Even her father's well-known madness for things of art could scarcely atone to his child for this indignity.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• absurdity
• craziness
• delusion
• foolishness
• hysteria
• lunacy
• mania
• mental illness
• stupidity