maddens

verb

present tense third-person singular of madden
1
as in bothers
to cause to go insane or as if insane the endless swarms of mosquitoes all but maddened the explorers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in infuriates
to make angry her perpetual tardiness maddened her friends to no end

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for maddens
  1. bothers
  2. infuriates
  3. disturbs
  4. angers
  5. distracts
  6. enrages
  7. confuses
  8. annoys
Verb
  • Resist that reflex long enough to understand what bothers you.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Fix what genuinely bothers you, but do not turn your whole life into a renovation project.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • The fact that the district has adopted a neurodiversity policy but also proclaims ABA will remain in place infuriates Pirilä.
    — Beth Hawkins, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Georgia Supreme Court challenger Jen Jordan infuriates Republicans with a new fundraising email.
    — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 15 May 2026
Definition of infuriates
Verb
  • Some of the sightings claim a man wearing clothing typical of the 17th or 18th centuries, a man dressed in Confederate attire in the liquor room, a ghost of a former worker Joseph Hardesty and a female who actively disturbs visitors to her home.
    — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Vibration disturbs the natural sediments in wine, flattening the flavor and aging it prematurely.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbs
Verb
  • Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan’s separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing, which views the island as Chinese territory.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The receptionist angers Kripke and Bert so much that they are picked up by the police — along with Stuart, who had also been arrested.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 31 July 2026
Definition of angers
Verb
  • Yes, a legal circus distracts from the things that matter and creates a massive amount of drama all its own.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Often, undercapitalization is a major challenge for new franchisees and distracts from operations.
    — Angelo Chavez, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of distracts
Verb
  • The ghostly character doesn't have a particularly significant role in the story, but is a constant nuisance in the tapestry of Hogwarts with antics that include throwing things, making messes, pulling pranks, and generally causing mischief that enrages caretaker Argus Filch.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026
  • This is exactly the kind of mainstream Christian view that enrages Allie Beth Stuckey.
    — Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
Definition of enrages
Verb
  • The legal system dehumanizes her, the support group confuses her, and one of her friends painfully disappoints her.
    — Carey Purcell, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
  • This confuses each Nyota but also those around them, who note that the Nyotas have rather quickly assumed new hairstyles but also that neither is behaving quite like herself.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of confuses
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
  • That very same thing is what annoys Liz about Charles 500 years later.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of annoys
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.

Browse Nearby Words

maddening
maddens
madding
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Maddens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maddens. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of syncretic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All