1
: the quality or state of being mad: such as
a
: a state of severe mental illness
—not used technically
… fortifications against an inner darkness, the threat of madness that crouched above him throughout his life.—
Robert F. Moss
Robert F. Moss
b
: behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous : extreme folly
an idea that is pure/sheer madness
c
d
: intense anger : rage
2
: any of several ailments of animals marked by frenzied behavior
specifically
: rabies
Synonyms
Examples of madness in a Sentence
He suffered a series of tragedies that nearly drove him to madness.
Her friends told her the idea was pure madness, but she went through with it anyway.
It was the height of madness for him to drive at such high speeds!
Recent Examples on the Web
For an artist to find a voice for that craziness, to get the pitch of the madness right, was unusual and daring.
—Holland Cotter, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Noise is the sound of madness itself, the din within our minds.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
What follows is a descent into madness as Gosling’s character then stalks and publicly confronts the Disney designer responsible for the font choice.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Apr. 2024
Because whenever there’s a solar event, madness ensues with crowds and lookie-loos.
—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In the end, 9-year-old Osaka Ramen prevailed against 1-year-old Neko Ramen & Rice in the finals of our March ramen madness with 77% of the votes.
—Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 3 Apr. 2024
Social media has always been a playground for our worst instincts, but here, the madness and misinformation goes largely uncontested because who else but a Trump fan and a columnist forced to write about this stuff would volunteer to wade through such a trash heap?
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The button-mashing, the mask-switching—these are all, Salim says, representative of the madness people can experience.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
His temper and apparent madness was a big issue, as was the inexperience and limited reach of his nascent political organization.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Holland Cotter, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Noise is the sound of madness itself, the din within our minds.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
What follows is a descent into madness as Gosling’s character then stalks and publicly confronts the Disney designer responsible for the font choice.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Apr. 2024
Because whenever there’s a solar event, madness ensues with crowds and lookie-loos.
—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In the end, 9-year-old Osaka Ramen prevailed against 1-year-old Neko Ramen & Rice in the finals of our March ramen madness with 77% of the votes.
—Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 3 Apr. 2024
Social media has always been a playground for our worst instincts, but here, the madness and misinformation goes largely uncontested because who else but a Trump fan and a columnist forced to write about this stuff would volunteer to wade through such a trash heap?
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The button-mashing, the mask-switching—these are all, Salim says, representative of the madness people can experience.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
His temper and apparent madness was a big issue, as was the inexperience and limited reach of his nascent political organization.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'madness.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near madness
Cite this Entry
“Madness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madness. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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