MADDEN Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

madden

verb

ˈma-dᵊn

Definition of madden

as in to bother

to cause to go insane or as if insane the endless swarms of mosquitoes all but maddened the explorers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to infuriate

to make angry her perpetual tardiness maddened her friends to no end

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of madden Though Larwood was bowling to a conventional field at the time, Jardine immediately switched to a bodyline field, further maddening the audience. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2026 The Tigers have still been haunted by bouts of bad luck and maddening failures to close out games. — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026 Sure, the mandatory hydration breaks added for all games (including those in domed stadiums with air conditioning) and a first-ever halftime show in the final were maddening for the soccer purists. — Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 20 July 2026 The sound is not just big and bold, but scrubbed clean by AI with the goal of maddening perfection. — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for madden

Recent Examples of Synonyms for madden

Verb

In Levittown, the cost-cutting builders at first hadn’t even bothered with tanks and had installed cesspools instead—three decades later, the suburb’s sewer system was still under construction.

— Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Professionally, Bernat didn’t bother to answer a Florida Department of Health administrative complaint detailing the charges in the Alzheimer patient’s case.

— David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of bother

Verb

Some administration officials argue that Washington is merely trying to avoid unnecessarily infuriating Beijing.

— David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026
Some descendants worry that the new research from Kurin and his colleagues will only infuriate die-hard Jefferson apologists further.

— Andrew Lawler, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of infuriate

Verb

Baldwin alleged that decision was just one part of a pattern of disturbing prosecutorial abuses, including presenting false information to the grand jury, failing to disclose two firearms reports, and filing an unlawful gun enhancement.

— Gene Maddaus, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
But the death of Khamenei eliminated the regime’s paramount figure, disturbing the existing balance, and the war is systematically privileging the parts of the state responsible for survival over everything else.

— Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of disturb

Verb

At last week's race in Azerbaijan, Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas crashed on the last lap and reportedly blamed it on the software becoming confused and affecting his braking.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
Immigrant parents there wanted help writing to their kids’ teachers and making sense of confusing forms.

— Steven Choi, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of confuse

Verb

Counsel was enraged that his gambit was foiled by one jury holdout on the insanity argument.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 2 Oct. 2026
That day in August, the woman was awakened by Ross, who was enraged by a photo she was tagged in on Instagram, according to Ross’ arrest report.

— Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of enrage

Verb

From SheetsGate to purposefully washing Joy’s uniforms with rags, the laundry room has unleashed something deranged in Gen.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Featuring an ensemble populated by killer character actors like Jacki Weaver, Luis Guzmán, Kurtwood Smith, Timothy Spall, and Michael Chernus, Perpetual Grace, LTD is an off-kilter neo-noir that mines deranged humor from its eccentric characters.

— Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of derange

Verb

What annoys me is that this whole thing is called Roaring 20th, so why was there not a flapper and Great Gatsby theme?

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Coach Rhett Lashlee was already annoyed with special teams coming into the game, and that was before the Mustangs botched two PAT attempts.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of annoy

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madded

madden

maddened

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“Madden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/madden. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of madden

verb

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