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Definition of madness noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

madness

noun
 
/ˈmædnəs/
 
/ˈmædnəs/
[uncountable]Idioms
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  1. (old-fashioned, sometimes offensive) the state of having a serious mental illness synonym insanity The use of madness with this meaning can now be offensive.
    • There may be a link between madness and creativity.
    • They say that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness!
  2. crazy or stupid behaviour that could be dangerous
    • It would be sheer madness to trust a man like that.
    • In a moment of madness she had agreed to go out with him.
    • The real victim in this collective madness is our society.
    see also March Madness™Topics Dangerc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • absolute
    • complete
    • pure
    phrases
    • the first sign of madness
    • a moment of madness
    See full entry
Idioms
there’s (a) method in somebody’s madness
  1. there is a reason for somebody’s behaviour and it is not as strange or as stupid as it seems
See madness in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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