Meaning & use

madness

noun·Everyday

The state of severe mental illness, or extremely foolish or wildly irrational behavior.

See it in a sentence

The character's descent into madness is the central theme of the play.

Driving in that storm would have been madness, so we waited it out.

A note on using this word

Madness is often used loosely and informally to describe reckless or chaotic behavior, not only clinical illness.

Words with a similar meaning

insanitylunacyfolly

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

sanity

Make it your own

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