Meanings
- informalnot comparablesimileCrazy, demented.
His nephew by marriage—his wife's own blood kin—had gone crackers and killed a man. […] When you added in the fact that the young man in question remained just as mad as a March hare, you could understand why the governor only wanted it to go away, and as soon as possible.
1996, Stephen King, The Green Mile1 more example
[S]he was with childe in hir huſbande his abſence, or that hir louer vſed hir fondly in open preſence, as the preſumption was not onely vehement, but alſo the fact too too apparent. Hir vnfortunat huſband had not ſooner notice gyuen him vpon his returne of theſe ſorowfull newes, then his fingers began to nibble, hys teeth to grinne, hys eyes to trickle, his eares to dindle, his heade to dezell, in ſomuch as his heart being ſkeared wyth ialouſie, & his wits enſtalde through Phrenſie, he became as madde, as a marche hare.
1577, Richard Stanyhurst [i.e., Richard Stanihurst], “[The Historie of Irelande […].] A Treatise Contayning a Playne and Perfect Description of Irelande, […].”, in Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, folio 14, recto, column 1Synonyms: mad as a hatter, 5150, bananas, barking, barking mad, fey, buggish, buggy
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveCrazy, demented.
Origin
Possibly from the boisterous behaviour of hares in their breeding season.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mad as a March hare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20as%20a%20March%20hare
“mad as a March hare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20as%20a%20March%20hare. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mad as a March hare,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20as%20a%20March%20hare.
Source: mad as a March hare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.