Madden

//ˈmædən// name, verb

name, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make angry. transitive
  2. 2
    make mad wordnet
  3. 3
    To make insane; to inflame with passion. transitive
  4. 4
    drive up the wall; go on someone's nerves wordnet
  5. 5
    To become furious. intransitive, obsolete

    "The rascal saw his advantage, and began a fierce harangue against the heretic strangers. As he maddened, his hearers maddened; the savage nature, capricious as a child's, flashed out in wild suspicion. Women yelled, men scowled, and ran hastily to their huts for bows and blow-guns."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    cause to go crazy; cause to lose one's mind wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Irish. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A place name:; A small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A place name:; A hamlet in Rocky View County, Alberta, Canada. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A place name:; An unincorporated community in Leake County, Mississippi, United States. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
aggravatealienateangerannoyantagonizearouse

Example

More examples

"The rascal saw his advantage, and began a fierce harangue against the heretic strangers. As he maddened, his hearers maddened; the savage nature, capricious as a child's, flashed out in wild suspicion. Women yelled, men scowled, and ran hastily to their huts for bows and blow-guns."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From mad + -en.

Etymology 2

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Madadháin (“descendant of Madadhán”), a diminutive of madadh (“dog”).

Related phrases

Maddens Plains

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.