One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
Synonyms of mad in English:
mad
See definition of mad
adjective
1‘he felt he was going mad’
insane, mentally ill, certifiable, deranged, demented, of unsound mind, out of one's mind, not in one's right mind, sick in the head, not together, crazy, crazed, lunatic, non compos mentis, unbalanced, unhinged, unstable, disturbed, distracted, stark mad, manic, frenzied, raving, distraught, frantic, hysterical, delirious, psychotic, psychopathic, mad as a hatter, mad as a March hare, away with the fairies, foaming at the mouth
British sectionable
informal mental, off one's head, out of one's head, off one's nut, nuts, nutty, nutty as a fruitcake, off one's rocker, not right in the head, not quite right in the head, round the bend, stark raving mad, stark staring mad, raving mad, bats, batty, bonkers, dotty, cuckoo, cracked, loopy, loony, bananas, loco, dippy, screwy, schizoid, touched, gaga, up the pole, off the wall, not all there, not right upstairs
British informal barmy, crackers, barking, barking mad, round the twist, off one's trolley, as daft as a brush, not the full shilling
North American informal buggy, nutsy, nutso
out of one's tree, meshuga, squirrelly, wacko
Canadian NZ Australian informal bushed
Australian informal yarra
NZ informal porangi
informal have a screw loose, have bats in one's belfry, have bats in the belfry
Australian informal have kangaroos in one's top paddock, have kangaroos in the top paddock
sane
2‘I'm still mad at him for what he did’
angry, furious, infuriated, irate, raging, enraged, fuming, blazing, flaming mad, blazing mad, in a towering rage, incensed, wrathful, seeing red, cross, indignant, exasperated, irritated, berserk, out of control, beside oneself
livid, spare, wild, aerated
dated waxy, in a wax
North American sore
calm, unruffled
3‘what sort of mad scheme are you working on?’
foolish, insane, stupid, lunatic, foolhardy, idiotic, irrational, unreasonable, illogical, zany, senseless, nonsensical, absurd, impractical, silly, inane, asinine, ludicrous, wild, unwise, imprudent, preposterous
informal crazy, daft, crackpot, crackbrained
sensible
4‘he's mad about jazz’
enthusiastic, passionate, impassioned, keen on
ardent, zealous, fervent, avid, eager, fervid, fanatical, addicted to, devoted to, infatuated with, in love with, hot for
crazy, potty, dotty, nuts, wild, hooked on, gone on
North American nutso
indifferent
5‘we made mad, passionate love’
unrestrained, uncontrolled, uninhibited, wild, abandoned, overpowering, overwhelming, excited, frenzied, frantic, frenetic, ebullient, energetic, boisterous
Phrases
1‘he subsequently went mad and threw himself in front of a train’
become insane, lose one's reason, lose one's mind, take leave of one's senses, go off one's head, go crazy
go doolally, go doolally tap, lose one's marbles
go barmy, go off one's trolley, go round the twist, go crackers
2‘when I told her I was going to be an actor, my mother went mad’
become very angry, lose one's temper, get in a rage, rant, rant and rave, fulminate
go crazy
explode, burst, go off the deep end, go ape, flip, flip one's lid
do one's nut
flip one's wig
go apeshit
3‘the crowd went mad with excitement’
become frenzied, become uncontrollable, lose control, erupt, boil over
1‘the two men turned towards me, and I ran like mad’
fast, furiously, as fast as possible, as fast as one's legs can carry one, hurriedly, quickly, rapidly, speedily, hastily
2‘he had to fight like mad to get away’
energetically, enthusiastically, madly, with a will, for all one is worth, passionately, intensely, ardently, fervently
like crazy, hammer and tongs
like billy-o