madhouse

noun

mad·​house ˈmad-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce madhouse (audio)
1
informal + often offensive : an institution providing care to mentally ill individuals
2
informal : a place of uproar or confusion
The day of the game against the U.S.S.R., Blythe Arena was a madhouse. Thousands milled about outside, hoping to find a way in.Walter Bingham

Examples of madhouse in a Sentence

The stadium was a madhouse when the team won the championship. it was hard to believe that this place with the bright cheery walls was really a madhouse
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The madhouse of awards season and all its many, many controversies — not to mention an ongoing parade of natural and man-made disasters — has until now perhaps overshadowed some of the year’s lower-stakes joys. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025 But things move fast in the Goodison madhouse. Greg O'Keeffe, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025 The show biz bona fides firmly located modern experience within the dizzying hall of mirrors that is the mass-media madhouse. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2022 Michigan football on Saturday beat Ohio State, 45-23 in Columbus for the first time since 2000 and Twitter, understandably, was a madhouse. Tyler J. Davis, Detroit Free Press, 26 Nov. 2022 See All Example Sentences for madhouse

Word History

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of madhouse was in 1649

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Cite this Entry

“Madhouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madhouse. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

madhouse

noun
mad·​house ˈmad-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce madhouse (audio)
1
informal, often offensive : an institution providing care to mentally ill people
2
: a place of uproar or confusion

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