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
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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.
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.