madness

/ˈmad.nəs/

//ˈmad.nəs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“madness” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,471. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,471
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.

Corpus desk

Index EN-madness · madness · English

madness · rank #7,471 · 9 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,471
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH lungs

Nearest frequency peer: lungs (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “madness”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “madness” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

madness vs manners
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for madness
PropertyValue
Headwordmadness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmad.nəs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#7,471
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “madness”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).madnesslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “lungs” (#7,470), “mandate” (#7,472), “licence” (#7,469). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “madness” is #7,471. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around madness (IPA /ˈmad.nəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,471 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for madness, with forms such as "amdness", "maddness", and "madenss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "manners", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English madnes, madnesse; equivalent to mad + -ness. The correct English form is madness, spelled M-A-D-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.
  2. 2
    The state of being angry.
  3. 3
    Rash folly.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how madness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Though this be madneſſe, / Yet there is Method in 't: […]
  2. You were lonely for a man I said, "Take me as I am" 'Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while

Etymology

From Middle English madnes, madnesse; equivalent to mad + -ness.

Antonyms

sanity

This word in other languages

locura(Español)folie(Français)Wahnsinn(Deutsch)loucura(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amdness
  • maddness
  • madenss
  • madnes
  • madnness
  • madnses
  • mandess
  • mdaness
  • mmadness

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of madness - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

amdness2maddness1madenss2madnes1madnness1madnses2mandess2mdaness2
Edit distance from "madness"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "madness"?
"madness" is spelled M-A-D-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmad.nəs/.
What does "madness" mean?
As a noun, "madness" means: The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.
What words are commonly confused with "madness"?
"madness" is commonly confused with "manners". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "madness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "madness" is /ˈmad.nəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "madness"?
From Middle English madnes, madnesse; equivalent to mad + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "madness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mandate#7,472licence#7,469kissing#7,467harmful#7,458

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

merger9 variantspriced9 variantsgrande9 variantsresign9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list