Madhouse
noun
A place of chaos, wild disorder, or confusion.
With all the kids running around and shouting, the house was a complete madhouse
Usage tips
Informal
Colloquial
noun
A psychiatric hospital.
In 18th century, people with mental illness were often kept in madhouses
Often appears as...
- run like a madhouse
- looks like a madhouse
Usage tips
Informal
Historical
noun
A place of chaos, wild disorder, or confusion.
With all the kids running around and shouting, the house was a complete madhouse
Usage tips
Informal
Colloquial
noun
A psychiatric hospital.
In 18th century, people with mental illness were often kept in madhouses
Often appears as...
- run like a madhouse
- looks like a madhouse
Usage tips
Informal
Historical
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Cultural Metaphor
Used metaphorically to describe situations that feel chaotic like wild scenes in movies or literature.
After the concert tickets went on sale, the venue was a madhouse.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Conveys frustration or amazement at overwhelming disorganization or activity.
I couldn't think straight; the office was a madhouse today.
Pro Tip 3/3Exaggeration Alert
Often used for dramatic effect, doesn't always mean literal chaos, but rather a personal sense of disorder.
When my family visits, my apartment turns into a madhouse.
Pro Tip 1/3Cultural Metaphor
Used metaphorically to describe situations that feel chaotic like wild scenes in movies or literature.
After the concert tickets went on sale, the venue was a madhouse.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Conveys frustration or amazement at overwhelming disorganization or activity.
I couldn't think straight; the office was a madhouse today.
Pro Tip 3/3Exaggeration Alert
Often used for dramatic effect, doesn't always mean literal chaos, but rather a personal sense of disorder.
When my family visits, my apartment turns into a madhouse.
Pro Tip 1/3Cultural Metaphor
Used metaphorically to describe situations that feel chaotic like wild scenes in movies or literature.
After the concert tickets went on sale, the venue was a madhouse.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Conveys frustration or amazement at overwhelming disorganization or activity.
I couldn't think straight; the office was a madhouse today.
Pro Tip 3/3Exaggeration Alert
Often used for dramatic effect, doesn't always mean literal chaos, but rather a personal sense of disorder.
When my family visits, my apartment turns into a madhouse.
Never forget "Madhouse"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
The psychology of evil PIPE...
They had to put him in hiding, because people wanted to kill him, and then his mother and his wife. For three years, they were in hiding. This is the woman who stopped the Stanford Prison Study. When I said it got out of control, I was the prison superintendent. I didn't know it was out of control. I was totally indifferent. She saw that madhouse and said,
Video examples
Copperheads! Copperheads!...
Moses you ain't mother sorry when I was trying to get them all in the box you know it was like a madhouse they kept coming out all right my tote and there's one like 4 inches from my foot and I'm like hey buddy you know I get you put back up so I mean it was a pretty
Video examples
The psychology of evil PIPE...
They had to put him in hiding, because people wanted to kill him, and then his mother and his wife. For three years, they were in hiding. This is the woman who stopped the Stanford Prison Study. When I said it got out of control, I was the prison superintendent. I didn't know it was out of control. I was totally indifferent. She saw that madhouse and said,
Video examples
Copperheads! Copperheads!...
Moses you ain't mother sorry when I was trying to get them all in the box you know it was like a madhouse they kept coming out all right my tote and there's one like 4 inches from my foot and I'm like hey buddy you know I get you put back up so I mean it was a pretty
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Richard Dean Anderson
American Actor
Oh, who am I trying to kid? It's a madhouse. The minute those cameras go off, things just explode, everyone is just at each other in one way or another, in closets or cat fights here and there. It's nuts. You know, I can't be a part of it.
Quote examples
Leon Trotsky
Russian Revolutionary
England is nothing but the last ward of the European madhouse, and quite possibly it will prove to be the ward for particularly violent cases.
Quote examples
Charlotte Rampling
French Actress
I could have been a superstar in America - I was certainly taken out there. But I said, 'No way, Jose, I'm not staying here in this madhouse.
Quote examples
Oriana Fallaci
Italian Journalist
Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?
Quote examples
Joseph Brodsky
American Poet
I had been imprisoned three times and had twice been incarcerated in a madhouse.
Quote examples
William Empson
English Poet
You don't want madhouse and the whole thing there.
Quote examples
Anna Freud
Austrian Psychologist
A first visit to a madhouse is always a shock.
Quote examples
Gore Vidal
American Novelist
The United States is a madhouse.
Quote examples
Richard Dean Anderson
American Actor
Oh, who am I trying to kid? It's a madhouse. The minute those cameras go off, things just explode, everyone is just at each other in one way or another, in closets or cat fights here and there. It's nuts. You know, I can't be a part of it.
Quote examples
Leon Trotsky
Russian Revolutionary
England is nothing but the last ward of the European madhouse, and quite possibly it will prove to be the ward for particularly violent cases.
Quote examples
Charlotte Rampling
French Actress
I could have been a superstar in America - I was certainly taken out there. But I said, 'No way, Jose, I'm not staying here in this madhouse.
Quote examples
Oriana Fallaci
Italian Journalist
Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?
Quote examples
Joseph Brodsky
American Poet
I had been imprisoned three times and had twice been incarcerated in a madhouse.
Quote examples
William Empson
English Poet
You don't want madhouse and the whole thing there.
Quote examples
Anna Freud
Austrian Psychologist
A first visit to a madhouse is always a shock.
Quote examples
Gore Vidal
American Novelist
The United States is a madhouse.
Example 1 of 8
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension