Meanings
madling1
plural madlings
- A mad creature; one who acts wildly or foolishly.
A madling was speaking to them; a woman. Dani stopped with a mind to retreat.
2006, Jacqueline Carey, Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering2 more examples
A madling acts in opposition to common sense. He is an owd madling whose reason has become childish by the lapse of years.
1881, Benjamin Preston, Dialect and other poems, with glossary of the local wordsThe madling—he had appeared today in the form of Austeri-Pranz, one of Vespanus' instructors at Roë, an intimidating man with bulging, rolling eyes and a formidable overbite—gave the question his consideration.
2010, George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Songs of the Dying Earth
madling2
comparative more madling · superlative most madling
- archaicdialectalMad; insane; crazy.
To be madling is to have our ideas confused.
1881, Benjamin Preston, Dialect and other poems, with glossary of the local words2 more examples
The madling woman snatched the tray from his hands, giving it to the Fjeltroll to inspect.
2006, Jacqueline Carey, Godslayer: Volume II of The SunderingShe blinked her painful eyes. “Oh,” she said, “the madling boy. . . . But how would I know this? Why do you trouble me with this? […]
2014, Richard Monaco, Parsival
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
madling · adjective
Either from attributive use of madling (see above), or for maddling, present participle of maddle (“to be mad”). More at maddle.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
madling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madling
“madling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madling. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “madling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madling.
Source: madling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.