noun
madness
MAD-nuhs
noun
1
A state of serious mental illness; insanity.
"The old story described his slow descent into madness."
"Doctors eventually diagnosed the condition as a form of madness rather than simple exhaustion."
2
Wild, foolish, or reckless behaviour; extreme irrationality.
"Driving that fast in the fog was pure madness."
"There was a kind of madness to the crowd as ticket prices doubled overnight."
How to Use Madness
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither genuine mental illness, or (much more commonly today) an informal way of saying something is crazy, reckless, or chaotic.
Common mistake
In everyday speech "madness" almost always means reckless/chaotic, not clinical insanity — context makes the difference clear.
Common pairings
sheer madness
descend into madness
the madness of
Word Forms
madnesses plural
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The old story described his slow descent into _____.
Etymology
From Middle English madnes, built from mad plus the suffix -ness.