madness
Reason's complete absence
Madness is the state of being mentally deranged—what older usage called insanity.
More commonly now, madness describes extreme foolishness or recklessness: It would be madness to invest everything in one stock.
The word also captures frenzied intensity: the madness of the holiday shopping season, March Madness.
In British usage, madness can simply mean absurdity: This bureaucracy is utter madness.
Extreme irrational foolishness
- derangementDisturbed mental state
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
- crazinessMental instability or absurdity
unhinged · deranged · mental illness · schizophrenia · paranoia · delusion · hallucination · neurosis
Unwise conduct
- absurdityWildly illogical quality
- insanitySevere mental illness
- stupidityLack of intelligence
- lunacyExtreme irrational foolishness
nonsense · idiocy · recklessness · irrationality · senselessness · illogical · unreasonable · harebrained
Uncontrollable emotional excess
- rampageViolent, destructive outburst
- feverElevated body temperature
- furyIntense violent anger
- deliriumAcute mental disorientation
riot · spree · outburst · flurry · fervor · craze · fever pitch · wild
Intense, consuming obsession
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
- fanaticismObsessive, unreasoning dedication
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- monomaniaFixation on single idea
infatuation · craze · fever · hyperfocus · consumed · gripped · possessed · single-minded
State of wild disorder
- pandemoniumState of utter confusion
- mayhemViolent disorder and destruction
- turmoilViolent disturbance or confusion
- havocWidespread destruction and chaos
anarchy · disorder · confusion · disarray · tumult · uproar · commotion · upheaval
lunacy
Extreme irrational foolishness
- derangementDisturbed mental state
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
craziness · unhinged · deranged · mental illness · schizophrenia · paranoia · delusion · hallucination · neurosis · asylum
foolishness
Unwise conduct
lunacy · nonsense · idiocy · recklessness · irrationality · senselessness · illogical · unreasonable · harebrained · ill-advised
hysteria
Uncontrollable emotional excess
delirium · riot · spree · outburst · flurry · fervor · craze · fever pitch · wild · frantic
mania
Intense, consuming obsession
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
- fanaticismObsessive, unreasoning dedication
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
monomania · infatuation · craze · fever · hyperfocus · consumed · gripped · possessed · single-minded · all-consuming
bedlam
State of wild disorder
- pandemoniumState of utter confusion
- mayhemViolent disorder and destruction
- turmoilViolent disturbance or confusion
havoc · anarchy · disorder · confusion · disarray · tumult · uproar · commotion · upheaval · whirlwind
crazy
Mentally unhinged
batty · barmy · loco · bananas · crackers · mental · potty · daft · cuckoo · wacko
rage
Intense, violent anger
outrage · fuming · seething · livid · incensed · enraged · apoplectic · furious · indignation · temper
- -NESS wordsfullness, happiness, kindness, darkness, sadness
- commotioncommotion, clamor, brouhaha, bedlam, hullabaloo
- drama themesrevenge, betrayal, forbidden love, love triangle, family conflict
- Biblical Afflictionsleprosy, blindness, boils, plagues, pestilence
- Gothic LiteratureEdgar Allan Poe, Jane Eyre, Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights, The Tell-Tale Heart
- Literary Madnessinsanity, hysteria, melancholia, psychosis, delusion
madnesssanity
Mental soundness
saneness · soundness · lucidity · mental health · normality
madnessreason
Basis or justification
rationality · wisdom · reasonableness · sense · logic
- March MadnessNCAA tournament season
- method to one's madnessLogic underlying apparent irrationality
- descent into madnessProgressive loss of sanity
- utter madness
- midnight madnessFrenzied late-night event
- full moon madnessBelief moonlight causes craziness
mad, made, madly, madman, remade, madcap, maddening, unmade, madhouse