mad
/ˈmæd/adjective, adverb, verb
mad is spelled M-A-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, mad means “Insane; crazy; mentally deranged” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mad?
| Letters | 3: M-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 55 times per million words; the 1,865th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mad?
Mad appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mad?
- /ˈmæd/
- Australia /ˈmæːd/
- /ˈmaːd/
Mad has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mad.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mad?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as mad.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dam.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mad
- madder comparative
- maddest superlative
- mads present, singular, he/she/it
- madding participle, present
- madded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mad mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
UKInsane; crazy; mentally deranged.
You want to spend a thousand pounds on a pair of shoes? Are you mad?
- 2
USinformalAngry; annoyed.
Are you mad at me?
- 3
USinformalUsed litotically to indicate satisfaction or approval.
Wow, you really made this pie from scratch? I'm not mad at it.
- 4
IrelandUKinformalBizarre; incredible.
It's mad that I got that job back a day after being fired.
- 5
Extremely foolish or unwise; irrational; imprudent.
- 6
Wildly confused or excited.
to be mad with terror, lust, or hatred
- 7
colloquialExtremely enthusiastic about; crazy about; infatuated with; overcome with desire for.
Aren't you just mad for that red dress?
- 8
Abnormally ferocious or furious; or, rabid, affected with rabies.
a mad dog
adverb
- 1
IrelandUKslangIntensifier; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly; very; unbelievably.
He was driving mad slow.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo be or become mad.
- 2
UScolloquialTo madden, to anger, to frustrate.
noun
- 1
Initialism of mutual assured destruction or mutually assured destruction.
- 2
Initialism of magnetic anomaly detector.
- 3
Initialism of mothers against decapentaplegic.
- 4
Acronym of magnetically-arrested disc, a type of black hole accretion disc).
- 5
Initialism of mandibular advancement device.
noun
- 1
Acronym of mothers against decapentaplegic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mad in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fou , fâché, en colère |
| German | wahnsinnig, verrückt, toll, irre, geisteskrank , sauer |
| Portuguese | louco, maluco, doido , bravo, nervoso, irado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.