mad

/mæd/

/mæd/

Other forms: maddest; madding; madded

If you're mad about something, you've lost your temper. If you've gone mad, you've lost your mind.

Just like it's more common to be angry than to be insane, you're more likely to use mad to describe someone who's ticked off than to describe someone who has serious mental problems. If you say you're “mad about” something, you're saying you like it so much it distracts you.

Definitions of mad

1. adjective

   roused to anger
   “she gets mad when you wake her up so early”

   “mad at his friend”

   synonyms: huffy, sore

   angry

   feeling or showing anger
2. adjective

   affected with madness or insanity
   “a man who had gone mad”

   synonyms: brainsick, crazy, demented, disturbed, sick, unbalanced, unhinged

   insane

   afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
3. adjective

   marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
   “a mad whirl of pleasure”

   synonyms: delirious, excited, frantic, unrestrained

   wild

   marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
4. adjective

   very foolish
   “a completely mad scheme to build a bridge between two mountains”

   synonyms: harebrained, insane

   foolish

   devoid of good sense or judgment