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madly

/ˈmædli/
/ˈmædli/
IPA guide

To do something madly is to do it in a frenzied or crazy way. If you oversleep, you might throw your clothes on and run madly out the door to catch your bus.

If your sister has a demented, angry expression on her face, you could say that her eyes are glowing madly. If your brother is rushing around the house, trying to hastily clean it up before your parents get home, you might say that he's madly throwing things in the garbage. Madly sometimes also means "intensely" or "excessively." In Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet love each other madly.

Definitions of madly
  1. adverb
    in an insane manner
    “the witch cackled madly
  2. adverb
    in an uncontrolled manner
    “she fought back madly
    synonyms: frantically
  3. adverb
    (used as intensives) extremely
    “she was madly in love”
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘madly'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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