mad S2 W3 /mæd/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative madder , superlative maddest )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: gemæd ]
1 . ANGRY [not before noun] informal especially American English angry
mad at
Are you still mad at me?
We get mad at each other sometimes, like any family.
mad about
There’s no need to get mad about it!
You make make me so mad!
mad with British English :
His wife will be really mad with him.
go mad British English (=become very angry)
Look at this mess! Mum will go mad!
hopping mad (=very angry)
(as) mad as hell (=a rude way of saying very angry)
2 . CRAZY especially British English crazy or very silly:
He can’t possibly get that finished in time. He must be mad!
I’d go mad (=start to feel crazy) if I was stuck at home all day.
He’s been driving me mad!
You’ve agreed to marry him! Are you mad?
Surely no one would be mad enough to fly in this weather?
My friends all think I’m stark raving mad (=completely crazy) .
It’s enough to send you barking mad (=completely crazy) .
as mad as a hatter/March hare (=completely crazy)
3 . UNCONTROLLED especially British English behaving in a wild uncontrolled way, without thinking about what you are doing
mad dash/rush/panic etc
We all made a mad dash for the door.
mad with grief/fear/jealousy etc
When she heard of her son’s death, she was mad with grief.
When Italy scored, the crowd went mad (=became very excited) .
We went a bit mad (=spent a lot of money) and ordered champagne.
4 . be mad about/for/on somebody/something informal especially British English to like someone or something very much SYN crazy :
My nine-year-old is mad about Robbie Williams.
He’s mad about computer games.
All the girls at school are mad for him.
be mad keen (on something)
‘Did you enjoy the film?’ ‘I wasn’t mad keen.’
be mad for it (=want to do something very much)
5 . MENTALLY ILL especially British English old-fashioned informal mentally ill SYN insane :
Mr Rochester’s mad wife
He turned towards me with a mad look in his eyes.
the cartoon figure of the mad scientist
6 . like mad informal very much, very quickly, or with a lot of energy:
I caught my thumb in the door and it hurt like mad.
She ran like mad to catch the bus.
7 . don’t go mad British English spoken used to tell someone not to work too hard, get too excited, or spend too much money:
I know you’ve got a lot to do but don’t go mad.
8 . power-mad/money-mad/sex-mad etc only interested in having power, money etc and doing everything possible to get it:
a power-mad dictator