maddening 1 of 2

adjective

ˈmad-niŋ How to pronounce maddening (audio)
Definition of maddeningnext
as in frustrating
causing annoyance after a few days, she found the monotonous work to be absolutely maddening

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

maddening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of madden
1
as in disturbing
to cause to go insane or as if insane the endless swarms of mosquitoes all but maddened the explorers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in infuriating
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 maddening
Adjective
The way the Padres screw around this time of year is maddening. — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2026 Belc is a thoroughly charming narrator of everything from finding meaning in the work of Deb Perelman and Ina Garten to parenting as a trans man to the maddening and joyful mundanity of running a household. — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
Verb
The way the Padres screw around this time of year is maddening. — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2026 The realization that there is a punishment for women who align themselves with men, as well as for those who don’t, is rightfully maddening. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for maddening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for maddening
  1. frustrating
  2. disturbing
  3. infuriating
  4. annoying
  5. confusing
  6. angering
  7. irritating
  8. distracting
Adjective
  • Conversely, there are moments throughout Pompeii where the trail goes cold due to insufficient documentation from 2,000 years ago, frustrating Hiddleston in the process.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026
  • The recent weakness has been frustrating given the company's strong fundamentals.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz,Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 16 July 2026
Definition of frustrating
Verb
  • At the beginning of the year, Grok sparked outrage for being used to generate millions of conconsensual nudes of real people, including children, disturbing some employees, according to Bloomberg.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 16 July 2026
  • And people are increasingly good at disturbing things, through means like suburbanization.
    — Meg Tirrell, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Definition of disturbing
Verb
  • Speaking to them on the phone is infuriating since most of the conversation is about what’s going on with Kaden.
    — Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 17 July 2026
  • The result can be a more consistent connection, fewer interruptions and less of that infuriating mid-episode quality drop.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of infuriating
Adjective
  • This is a realm of exposition-heavy opening credits, relentlessly earwormy theme tunes, and heroes who, for no obvious reason, choose to hang out with cute/annoying [delete as appropriate] comedy sidekicks like Orko and Snarf.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 5 July 2026
  • This would have evoked annoying memories of the 0-0 draw against Morocco in 2022 and 1-1 draw with Russia in 2018 for Spain.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • One of the biggest mistakes students make is confusing a loan approval with an affordability recommendation.
    — Scott White, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Meta’s new cloud business — selling excess compute capacity to outside customers — is confusing on its face.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • Leaders of the Maine Democratic Party are still working toward a process to replace Graham Platner, without angering his supporters.
    — Dan Merica, Washington Post, 9 July 2026
  • The mayor floated the idea to place Williams on probation for six months, angering the city manager’s supporters in the crowd.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
Definition of angering
Adjective
  • Few workplace behaviors are as small, common and irritating as the message that goes unanswered.
    — Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • Greenberg tried his best to ignore an irritating ankle injury that had plagued him the last couple of weeks and grimaced under the hazy sunlight as the pitcher, probably 20 or more years his junior, stared him down.
    — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of irritating
Verb
  • The previous time the New York Knicks won an NBA Final, in 1973, in-game sound was basically unheard-of in basketball—too distracting for players and fans.
    — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
  • Low-cost drones are also increasingly being paired with high-end weapons to improve their effectiveness by distracting or overwhelming enemy air defenses.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 15 July 2026
Definition of distracting

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Cite this Entry

“Maddening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maddening. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on maddening

Nglish: Translation of maddening for Spanish Speakers

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