Meanings
plural madnesses
- uncountableusuallyThe state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.
Though this be madneſſe, / Yet there is Method in 't: […]
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 261, column 22 more examples
You were lonely for a man I said, "Take me as I am" 'Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
1980 March 7, Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”, in Glass HousesShepard: What's wrong with your assistant? Dr. Warren: Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Dr. Manuel: Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left! Dr. Warren: I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden PrimeSynonyms: bedlamism, brainsickness, craze, craziness, derangement, insaneness, insanity, lunacy
- uncountableusuallyThe state of being angry.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain
noununrestrained excitement or enthusiasm
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishmadnes
- Englishmadness
From Middle English madnes, madnesse; equivalent to mad + -ness.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans waansin, waansinnigheid
- waansininsanity
- waansinnigheidinsanity
- kranksinnigheidinsanity
- malligheidrash folly
Ancient Greek μανία
- μανία (manía)insanity
Arabic جُنُون
- جُنُون (junūn)insanity
Bulgarian лу́дост, безу́мие
- лу́дост (lúdost)insanity
- безу́мие (bezúmie)insanity
Catalan bogeria, follia
- bogeriainsanity
- folliainsanity
Chinese Mandarin 狂, 瘋病 /疯病
- 狂 (kuáng)insanity
- 瘋病 /疯病 (fēngbìng)insanity
- 精神錯亂 /精神错乱 (jīngshéncuòluàn)insanity
- 蠢事 (chǔnshì)rash folly
Czech šílenství, šílenost
- šílenstvíinsanity
- šílenostinsanity
Danish galskab, sindssyge
- galskabinsanity
- sindssygeinsanity
- vanvidinsanity
- galskabrash folly
- vanvidrash folly
Dutch krankzinnigheid, waanzin
- krankzinnigheidinsanity
- waanzininsanity
Esperanto frenezo, frenezeco
- frenezoinsanity
- frenezecoinsanity
Estonian hullumeelsus
- hullumeelsusinsanity
Finnish hulluus, hulluus
- hulluusinsanity
- hulluusrash folly
French folie
- folieinsanity
German Wahnsinn, Verrücktheit
- Wahnsinninsanity
- Verrücktheitinsanity
Greek παραφροσύνη, τρέλα
- παραφροσύνη (parafrosýni)insanity
- τρέλα (tréla)insanity
Hebrew שִׁגָּעוֹן, טֵרוּף
- שִׁגָּעוֹן (shiga'ón)insanity
- טֵרוּף (terúf)insanity
Hindi पागलपन
- पागलपन (pāgalpan)insanity
Hungarian őrület, őrültség
- őrületinsanity
- őrültséginsanity
- őrültségrash folly
Icelandic brjálæði
- brjálæðiinsanity
Indonesian kegilaan
- kegilaaninsanity
Italian pazzia, follia
- pazziainsanity
- folliainsanity
Japanese 狂気
- 狂気 (kyōki)insanity
Korean 광기
- 광기 (gwanggi)insanity
Latin vēsānia, īnsānia
- vēsāniainsanity
- īnsāniainsanity
- īnsānitāsinsanity
- vēcordiainsanity
- dēmentiainsanity
- amentiainsanity
Latvian ārprāts, vājprāts
- ārprātsinsanity
- vājprātsinsanity
- trakumsinsanity
Lithuanian beprotybė, pamišimas
- beprotybėinsanity
- pamišimasinsanity
Norwegian Bokmål galskap
- galskapinsanity
Persian دیوانگی
- دیوانگی (divânegi)insanity
Polish szaleństwo, obłęd
- szaleństwoinsanity
- obłędinsanity
- świrinsanity
- fiołinsanity
- niepoczytalnośćinsanity
- kręciekinsanity
- wariactwoinsanity
- amokinsanity
Portuguese loucura, insanidade
- loucurainsanity
- insanidadeinsanity
- maluquiceinsanity
- malucageminsanity
- vesâniainsanity
- doidiceinsanity
- doideirainsanity
- loucurarash folly
Romanian nebunie
- nebunieinsanity
Russian безу́мие, сумасше́ствие
- безу́мие (bezúmije)insanity
- сумасше́ствие (sumasšéstvije)insanity
- помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo)insanity
- безу́мство (bezúmstvo)insanity
- помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo)rash folly
Slovak šialenstvo, šialenosť
- šialenstvoinsanity
- šialenosťinsanity
Spanish locura
- locurainsanity
Swedish vansinne, vanvett
- vansinneinsanity
- vanvettinsanity
- galenskapinsanity
- vansinnerash folly
Turkish delilik
- delilikinsanity
Ukrainian божеві́лля, безу́мство
- божеві́лля (boževíllja)insanity
- безу́мство (bezúmstvo)insanity
- безу́мність (bezúmnistʹ)insanity
- шале́ність (šalénistʹ)insanity
- навіже́ність (navižénistʹ)insanity
- варія́ція (varijácija)insanity
Urdu پاگل پن
- پاگل پن (pāgalpan)insanity
Cite this entry
madness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madness
“madness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “madness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/madness.
Source: madness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.