Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb In a crazy way; insanely.
  • adverb In a wild manner; frantically.
  • adverb In a foolish manner; rashly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a mad manner.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly.
  • adverb In a desperate manner.
  • adverb intensely.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in an uncontrolled manner
  • adverb in an insane manner
  • adverb (used as intensives) extremely

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

mad +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • They're tweeting madly from the negotiation (technically called the 18th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights) publishing editorials on the Huffington Post, etc.

    Archive 2009-05-01 2009

  • They're tweeting madly from the negotiation (technically called the 18th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights) publishing editorials on the Huffington Post, etc.

    Boing Boing 2009

  • Apparently, likelihood stray airborne microorganisms finding free food and reproducing madly is pretty small.

    The Great Butter vs. Margarine “Rot-off” 2008

  • In Nano one is more likely to plunge again madly to keep up with the word count.

    Is Nanowrimo a good way to write a novel? nissa_amas_katoj 2007

  • In Nano one is more likely to plunge again madly to keep up with the word count.

    Archive 2007-10-01 nissa_amas_katoj 2007

  • The bell still clanged madly from the steeple, and the vibrations seemed to shake the very flesh of the trembling children as they clung to their mother's hands and tried to keep up with their father's rapid strides.

    The Belgian Twins 1917

  • "And is" -- she struggled at the word madly -- "is she pure?"

    The Quest of the Silver Fleece A Novel 1915

  • "I ran away as soon as I could move; I ran madly from the house."

    The Filigree Ball 1903

  • On the contrary "-- he heard, as if somebody else had perpetrated it, the horrible repetition --" I mean to say -- "His brain fought for another phrase madly and in vain.

    Mr. Waddington of Wyck May Sinclair 1904

  • The impotence of will and rationality to deal with this mania is recognized in the common terms madly, wildly, deliriously, head-over-heels in love, since it would be oxymoronic to claim to be gently, reliably or sensibly in love.

    First Comes Marriage Reva Seth 2008

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