Synonyms for madness
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Lunacy — the state of being mad; insanity; mental disease
lunacy, craziness, insanity, derangement, mania, frenzy, delirium, mental disorder, mental illness, alienation, craze, distraction, aberration, dementia, insaneness, brainsickness
3. Folly
4. Rabies
Definitions
- n. 1
The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease.
- n. 2
The state of being angry.
- n. 3
Rash folly.
Related words
- Phrases
- canine madness
Forms
- Plural
- madnesses → lunacies, crazinesses, insanities, derangements…
Choose the right word
Madness is the old popular term, now less common, for insanity in its widest sense, but with suggestion of excitement, akin to mania. In the derived sense, lunacy denotes what is insanely foolish, madness what is insanely desperate.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- insanity Love is a temporary insanity curable by marriage.
- craziness I have had enough of the craziness of our lives.
- lunacy Don't succumb to lunacy too much, tomorrow is your wedding!
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| madness | rising | |
| insanity | steady | |
| craziness | rising | |
| lunacy | steady | |
| derangement | falling | |
| rabidness | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- rage1, fury2
- 5 letters
- mania3, craze1, folly2, furor2, lyssa
- 6 letters
- frenzy2, rabies2, raving2, lunacy3, furore
- 7 letters
- fatuity
- 8 letters
- dementia4, insanity4, delirium4, rabidity
- 9 letters
- craziness3, rabidness
- 10 letters
- alienation5, aberration4, insaneness
- 11 letters
- distraction3, foolishness3, derangement, hydrophobia
- 13 letters
- brainsickness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fury2 = 2 syllables).