Standard Lemma guide

madness

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈmad.nəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈmæd.nəs/
  • US: /ˈmæd.nɪs/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈmɛd.nɘs/
  • rhymes with (US) -ædnəs
  • CMU ARPABET: M AE1 D N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bedlamism, brainsickness, craze, craziness, derangement, insaneness, insanity, lunacy, lune, madness, mental disorder, mental illness, unreason, unsanity

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The state of being angry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Rash folly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

unrestrained excitement or enthusiasm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • poetry is a sort of divine madness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rabidity, rabidness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: exuberance, enthusiasm, ebullience

5

noun

Meaning 5

the quality of being rash and foolish

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • trying to drive through a blizzard is the height of folly
  • adjusting to an insane society is total foolishness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: folly, foolishness, craziness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: stupidity

6

noun

Meaning 6

a feeling of intense anger

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
  • his face turned red with rage

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fury, rage

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anger, choler, ire

Narrower terms: wrath, lividity

7

noun

Meaning 7

an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rabies, hydrophobia, lyssa

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: zoonosis, zoonotic disease

8

noun

Meaning 8

obsolete terms for legal insanity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lunacy, insaneness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: insanity

History

Etymology

From Middle English madnes, madnesse; equivalent to mad + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

145 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: waansin — insanity
  • Afrikaans: waansinnigheid — insanity
  • Afrikaans: kranksinnigheid — insanity
  • Albanian: marrëzi — insanity
  • Arabic: جُنُون (junūn) — insanity
  • Arabic: جنون (gunūn) — insanity
  • Armenian: խելագարություն (xelagarutʻyun) — insanity
  • Azerbaijani: dəlilik — insanity
  • Belarusian: шале́нства (šaljénstva) — insanity
  • Belarusian: вар'я́цтва (varʺjáctva) — insanity
  • Bulgarian: лу́дост (lúdost) — insanity
  • Bulgarian: безу́мие (bezúmie) — insanity
  • Catalan: bogeria — insanity
  • Catalan: follia — insanity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 狂 (kuáng) — insanity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瘋病 /疯病 (fēngbìng) — insanity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 精神錯亂 /精神错乱 (jīngshéncuòluàn) — insanity
  • Czech: šílenství — insanity
  • Czech: šílenost — insanity
  • Danish: galskab — insanity
  • Danish: sindssyge — insanity
  • Danish: vanvid — insanity
  • Dutch: krankzinnigheid — insanity
  • Dutch: waanzin — insanity
  • Esperanto: frenezo — insanity
  • Esperanto: frenezeco — insanity
  • Estonian: hullumeelsus — insanity
  • Finnish: hulluus — insanity
  • French: folie — insanity
  • Galician: loucura — insanity
  • Galician: tolería — insanity
  • Galician: tolemia — insanity
  • Galician: doudice — insanity
  • Galician: folía — insanity
  • Galician: vesania — insanity
  • Galician: tolén — insanity
  • Georgian: სიგიჟე (sigiže) — insanity
  • Georgian: სულით ავადმყოფობა (sulit avadmq̇opoba) — insanity
  • German: Wahnsinn — insanity
  • German: Verrücktheit — insanity
  • Greek: παραφροσύνη (parafrosýni) — insanity
  • Greek: τρέλα (tréla) — insanity
  • Ancient Greek: μανία (manía) — insanity
  • Hebrew: שִׁגָּעוֹן (shiga'ón) — insanity
  • Hebrew: טֵרוּף (terúf) — insanity
  • Hindi: पागलपन (pāgalpan) — insanity
  • Hungarian: őrület — insanity
  • Hungarian: őrültség — insanity
  • Icelandic: brjálæði — insanity
  • Indonesian: kegilaan — insanity
  • Italian: pazzia — insanity
  • Italian: follia — insanity
  • Japanese: 狂気 (kyōki) — insanity
  • Kazakh: ақылсыздық (aqylsyzdyq) — insanity
  • Korean: 광기 (gwanggi) — insanity
  • Kyrgyz: жиндилик (jindilik) — insanity
  • Latin: vēsānia — insanity
  • Latin: īnsānia — insanity
  • Latin: īnsānitās — insanity
  • Latin: vēcordia — insanity
  • Latin: dēmentia — insanity
  • Latin: amentia — insanity
  • Latvian: ārprāts — insanity
  • Latvian: vājprāts — insanity
  • Latvian: trakums — insanity
  • Lithuanian: beprotybė — insanity
  • Lithuanian: pamišimas — insanity
  • Macedonian: лудило (ludilo) — insanity
  • Macedonian: лудост (ludost) — insanity
  • Malayalam: ഭ്രാന്ത് (bhrāntŭ) — insanity
  • Malayalam: വട്ട് (vaṭṭŭ) — insanity
  • Malayalam: കിറുക്ക് (kiṟukkŭ) — insanity
  • Marathi: वेड (veḍ) — insanity
  • Marathi: खूळ (khūḷ) — insanity
  • Marathi: वेडेपणा (veḍepṇā) — insanity
  • Marathi: बुद्धिभ्रंश (buddhibhrauśa) — insanity
  • Manx: meecheeallid — insanity
  • Mauritian Creole: foli — insanity
  • Middle English: madnesse — insanity
  • Norwegian Bokmål: galskap — insanity
  • Occitan: foliá — insanity
  • Old English: wōdnes — insanity
  • Persian: دیوانگی (divânegi) — insanity
  • Plautdietsch: Wonsenn — insanity
  • Polish: szaleństwo — insanity
  • Polish: obłęd — insanity
  • Polish: świr — insanity
  • Polish: fioł — insanity
  • Polish: niepoczytalność — insanity
  • Polish: kręciek — insanity
  • Polish: wariactwo — insanity
  • Polish: amok — insanity
  • Portuguese: loucura — insanity
  • Portuguese: insanidade — insanity
  • Portuguese: maluquice — insanity
  • Portuguese: malucagem — insanity
  • Portuguese: vesânia — insanity
  • Portuguese: doidice — insanity
  • Portuguese: doideira — insanity
  • Romanian: nebunie — insanity
  • Russian: безу́мие (bezúmije) — insanity
  • Russian: сумасше́ствие (sumasšéstvije) — insanity
  • Russian: помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo) — insanity
  • Russian: безу́мство (bezúmstvo) — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: лу̏дост — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: лу̀дило — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: порѐмећено̄ст — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: lȕdost — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: lùdilo — insanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: porèmećenōst — insanity
  • Slovak: šialenstvo — insanity
  • Slovak: šialenosť — insanity
  • Slovene: norost — insanity
  • Slovene: blaznost — insanity
  • Spanish: locura — insanity
  • Swedish: vansinne — insanity
  • Swedish: vanvett — insanity
  • Swedish: galenskap — insanity
  • Tajik: девонагӣ (devonagi) — insanity
  • Telugu: పిచ్చి (picci) — insanity
  • Turkish: delilik — insanity
  • Ottoman Turkish: جنت (cinnet) — insanity
  • Ottoman Turkish: مجنونلق (mecnunluk) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: божеві́лля (boževíllja) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: безу́мство (bezúmstvo) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: безу́мність (bezúmnistʹ) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: шале́ність (šalénistʹ) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: навіже́ність (navižénistʹ) — insanity
  • Ukrainian: варія́ція (varijácija) — insanity
  • Unami: kpëcheonkëlëwakàn — insanity
  • Urdu: پاگل پن (pāgalpan) — insanity
  • Afrikaans: malligheid — rash folly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蠢事 (chǔnshì) — rash folly
  • Danish: galskab — rash folly
  • Danish: vanvid — rash folly
  • Finnish: hulluus — rash folly
  • Galician: tolemia — rash folly
  • Hungarian: őrültség — rash folly
  • Kabuverdianu: asnera — rash folly
  • Marathi: वेड (veḍ) — rash folly
  • Mauritian Creole: foli — rash folly
  • Middle English: madnesse — rash folly
  • Portuguese: loucura — rash folly
  • Russian: помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo) — rash folly
  • Swedish: vansinne — rash folly
Real reading context

madness in complete knowledge articles