mad — ODE · Shobdo

mad /mad

▸ adjective

( madder, maddest)

1 mainly British English extremely foolish or irrational; not sensible:

Antony's mother told him he was mad to be leaving Dublin

he had some mad ideas.

▪ in a frenzied mental or physical state:

she pictured loved ones mad with anxiety about her

it was a mad dash to get ready.

2 mainly British English having a serious mental health condition; mentally ill (not in technical use):

he felt as if he were going mad.

▪ (of a dog) rabid.

3 informal very enthusiastic about someone or something:

he's mad about football

[in combination] another myth is that Scorpios are sex-mad.

▪ British English very exciting.

4 informal very angry:

don't be mad at me

I've probably only seen him get mad twice.

5 informal great; remarkable:

I got mad respect for him

this author has mad skills with the written word.

▸ adverb [as submodifier] US English informal very; extremely:

he was mad cool—we immediately hit it off.

▸ verb

( mads, madding, madded)

[with object] archaic cause (someone) to become insane or out of touch with reality:

had I but seen thy picture in this plight, it would have madded me.

– PHRASES

go mad

1 informal
allow oneself to get carried away by enthusiasm or excitement:

let's go mad and splash out.

2 informal
become very angry:

my husband went mad when I told him about the plan.

3 mainly British English
become irrational due to being affected by a serious mental health condition (not in technical use).

like mad informal
with great intensity, energy, or enthusiasm:

I ran like mad.

as mad as a box of frogs (also mad as a box of frogs) British English informal
(of a person) wildly irrational or out of touch with reality:

of late, he has been behaving in a manner that suggests he's as mad as a box of frogs.

mad keen British English informal
extremely enthusiastic:

some men are mad keen on football.

– ORIGIN Middle English: either shortened from obsolete amad ‘mad’, or shortened from its source, Old English gemǣd(e)d ‘maddened’, participial form related to gemād ‘mad’, of Germanic origin.