| Language: | Old English |
| Origin: | gemæd |
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mad S2 W3
comparative madder, superlative maddest
comparative madder, superlative maddest1 angry
angry
[not before noun] informal especially American English hopping mad (=very angry)
(as) mad as hell (=a rude way of saying very angry)
2 crazy or very silly :
I'd go mad (=start to feel crazy) if I was stuck at home all day.
You've agreed to marry him! Are you mad?
Surely no one would be mad enough to fly in this weather?
crazy
especially British English
I'd go mad (=start to feel crazy) if I was stuck at home all day.
You've agreed to marry him! Are you mad?
Surely no one would be mad enough to fly in this weather? as mad as a hatter/March hare (=completely crazy)
3 behaving in a wild uncontrolled way, without thinking about what you are doing
uncontrolled
especially British English4 to like someone or something very much [= crazy]:
My nine-year-old is mad about Robbie Williams.
He's mad about computer games.
All the girls at school are mad for him.
be mad about/for/on somebody/something
informal especially British English
My nine-year-old is mad about Robbie Williams.
He's mad about computer games.
All the girls at school are mad for him. be mad for it (=want to do something very much)
5 mentally ill [= insane]:
Mr Rochester's mad wife
He turned towards me with a mad look in his eyes.
mentally ill
especially British English old-fashioned informal
Mr Rochester's mad wife
He turned towards me with a mad look in his eyes.6 very much, very quickly, or with a lot of energy :
I caught my thumb in the door and it hurt like mad.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.
like mad
informal
I caught my thumb in the door and it hurt like mad.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.7 used to tell someone not to work too hard, get too excited, or spend too much money :
I know you've got a lot to do but don't go mad.
don't go mad
British English spoken
I know you've got a lot to do but don't go mad.8 only interested in having power, money etc and doing everything possible to get it :
a power-mad dictator
power-mad/money-mad/sex-mad etc
a power-mad dictator