# mad

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈmæd/ · frequency rank #1,868

## Definitions
1. Insane; crazy, mentally deranged.
2. Angry, annoyed.
3. Used litotically to indicate satisfaction or approval.
4. Bizarre; incredible.
5. Wildly confused or excited.
6. Extremely foolish or unwise; irrational; imprudent.
7. Extremely enthusiastic about; crazy about; infatuated with; overcome with desire for.
8. Abnormally ferocious or furious; or, rabid, affected with rabies.
9. Intensifier, signifying abundance or high quality of a thing; very, much or many.
10. Having impaired polarity.

## Etymology
From Middle English mad, madde, madd, medd, from Old English ġemǣd, ġemǣded (“enraged”), past participle of ġemǣdan, *mǣdan (“to make insane or foolish”), from Proto-Germanic *maidijaną (“to change; damage; cripple; injure; make mad”), from Proto-Germanic *maidaz ("weak; crippled"; compare Old English gemād (“silly, mad”), Old High German gimeit (“foolish, crazy”), literary German gemeit (“mad, insane”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (gamaiþs, “crippled”)), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ("to change"; compare Old Irish máel (“bald, dull”), Old Lithuanian ap-maitinti (“to wound”), Sanskrit मेथति (méthati, “he hurts, comes to blows”)).

## Easily confused with
- **my** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-my)
- **ME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-me)
- **Mr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mr)
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-ms)
- **MM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mm)
- **MO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mo)
- **mi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mi)
- **MP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mp)
- **MD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-md)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mt)
- **MG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mg)
- **MC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mc)
- **ML** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-ml)
- **MB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mb)
- **MN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mn)
- **mu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mu)
- **MK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mk)
- **MW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mw)
- **MV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mv)
- **MJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mad-vs-mj)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mad