like mad

prep_phrase

"like-mad" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“like mad” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a prep_phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Like a mad person; in a furious or deranged manner; to a great or excessive degree; with great enthusiasm.

Key facts for like mad
PropertyValue
Headwordlike mad
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “like mad” sits in English frequency

like mad falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for like mad is 8 letters long, classified as a prep_phrase. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Like a mad person; in a furious or deranged manner; to a great or excessive degree; with great enthusiasm.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for like mad, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is like mad, spelled L-I-K-E- -M-A-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Like a mad person; in a furious or deranged manner; to a great or excessive degree; with great enthusiasm.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "like mad"?
"like mad" is spelled L-I-K-E- -M-A-D.
What does "like mad" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "like mad" means: Like a mad person; in a furious or deranged manner; to a great or excessive degree; with great enthusiasm.
What language does "like mad" come from?
"like mad" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “like mad”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-I-K-E- -M-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list