madbrainadj.n.
Now rare.
A. adj.
= mad-brained adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad > scatter-brained
madbraina1560
mad-headeda1566
mad-braineda1577
madcap1591
shatter-headedc1686
shatter-brained1727
shatter-witted1775
scatter-brained1804
skivie1808
wuzzy1896
shatter-pated1901
scatty1911
twitterpated1943
a1560 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Nyne Fyrst Bks. Eneidos (1562) ix. sig. Eeiii What dost yu thinke yu madbraine beast.
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. iii. 45 I haue..seene the mad braynest Roister-doister in a countrey dashte out of countenaunce.
1605 S. Rowlands Hell's broke Loose sig. D3 With..mad-braine heat, Munster they enter.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iii. ii. 10 I must forsooth be forst To giue my hand..Vnto a mad-braine rudesby. View more context for this quotation
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 295 That wilde madbraine Falques.
1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. IV. 2628/1 We call some rash performance or mad frolic a mad-brain (adj.) or madbrained (adj.) act.
B. n.
A hot-headed or uncontrolled person; a scatterbrain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mentally ill person > [noun] > mad person
woodman1297
madmanc1330
lunatic1377
franticc1380
madwomana1438
March harec1500
Bedlam beggar1525
fanaticc1525
bedlama1529
frenetic1528
Jack o' Bedlam1528
Tom o' Bedlam1569
crack-brain1570
madbrain1570
Tom1575
madcap1589
gelt1596
madhead1600
brainsick1605
madpash1611
non compos1628
madling1638
bedlam-man1658
bedlamerc1675
fan1682
bedlamite1691
cracka1701
lymphatic1708
shatter-brain1719
mad1729
maniaca1763
non compos mentis1765
shatter-pate1775
shatter-wit1775
insane1786
craze1831
dement1857
crazy1867
crackpot1883
loony1884
bug1885
psychopath1885
dingbat1887
psychopathic1890
ding-a-ling1899
meshuggener1900
détraqué1902
maddiea1903
nut1908
mental1913
ding1929
lakes1934
wack1938
fruitcake1942
nutty1942
barm-pot1951
nutcake1953
nutter1958
nutcase1959
nut job1959
meshuga1962
nutsy1964
headcase1965
nutball1968
headbanger1973
nutso1975
wacko1977
nut bar1978
mentalist1990
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun]
mafflardc1450
juffler15..
dromedary1567
madbrain1570
batie buma1586
addle-head1592
blunderkin1596
nit1598
addle-pate1601
hash1655
blunderbuss1692
blunderhead1692
shaffles1703
fog-pate1732
blunderer1741
puzzle-pate1761
slouch1767
étourdi1768
botch1769
puddle1782
bumble1789
scatter-brain1790
addle-brain1799
puzzle-head1815
shaffler1828
chowderhead1833
muddlehead1833
muddler1833
flounderer1836
duffer1842
muddle-pate1844
plug1848
incompetent1866
schlemiel1868
dinlo1873
drumble-dore1881
hodmandod1881
dub1887
prune1895
foozler1896
bollock1916
messer1926
Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942
spaz1965
spastic1981
1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. v. i. sig. Eiv Thou art some mad braine, or some foole.
1608 T. Middleton Mad World, my Masters i. sig. A3 Heer's a mad-braine a'th first, whose prankes scorne to haue presidents.
1616 J. Deacon Tobacco Tortured 57 Alas poore Tobacco..thou that hast bene hitherto accompted..the mad-braines merriment,..and the vnthrifts pasport.
1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 37 A Mad Pash; a mad-brain. Chesh.
1876 G. Meredith Beauchamp's Career II. xvi. 285 He began to think her lost beyond hope, embarked for good and all with the madbrain.
1901 A. Hutton Sword through Centuries v. 30 A young man who was regarded among his acquaintance as something of a mad-brain and something of a bully.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.n.a1560