Definitions

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

  • adjective Of or affected by rabies.
  • adjective Raging; uncontrollable.
  • adjective Extremely zealous or enthusiastic; fanatical.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Furious; raging; mad.
  • Specifically— Affected with rabies or hydrophobia, as a dog, wolf, horse, or man; hydrophobic; mad.
  • Pertaining to rabies: as, rabid virus.
  • Excessively or foolishly intense; rampant: as, a rabid Tory; a rabid teetotaler.

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

  • adjective Furious; raging; extremely violent.
  • adjective Extreme, unreasonable, or fanatical in opinion; excessively zealous.
  • adjective Affected with the distemper called rabies; mad.
  • adjective (Med.) Of or pertaining to rabies, or hydrophobia.

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

  • adjective Affected with rabies.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to rabies, or hydrophobia.
  • adjective Furious; raging; extremely violent.
  • adjective very extreme, unreasonable, or fanatical in opinion; excessively zealous; comparable to one with rabies.

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

  • adjective marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea
  • adjective of or infected by rabies

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin rabidus, from rabere, to rave.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin rabidus, from rabere ("to rave").

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Examples

  • I responded supporting the author and used the term rabid, as she did, to side with her.

    Don't Call Me Silly �� The Inherent Problems with Censoring Ad Hominem Attacks and Hate Speech 2009

  • Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, says she's scared of what she calls the rabid Republican who lives across the street from her house.

    CNN Transcript Apr 9, 2007 2007

  • Mugridge seemed to be in rabid fear of the water, and he exhibited a nimbleness and speed we did not dream he possessed.

    Chapter 21 2010

  • BATF has a history in rabid enforcement of gun laws against people who have little or no means to fight back.

    Video Topic: Freedom Under Fire? 2008

  • And there is a fundamental problem with logic: why are those people that he identifies as rabid anti-Semites confiding in him of all people, and revealing their innermost thoughts to him?

    Wednesday, January 14, 2009 As'ad 2009

  • Ms. DICKINSON: Well, use of the word rabid and party in the same sentence, not so much.

    The Ultimate Election Night Party 2008

  • Mugridge seemed to be in rabid fear of the water, and he exhibited a nimbleness and speed we did not dream he possessed.

    Chapter 21 1904

  • Teams that have a large amount of fans that have such an obsession with their team that their lives are practically based around the team are often called rabid fans (OhioFinFan4Life).

    The Phinsider Alpha6 2010

  • As to "rabid" - that may be a bit extreme almost said "bite" extreme but the fact that ms. closedmind resorts to Michelle Malkin as a proof-source should make everyone on the planet shutter.

    He told them they were losers for being there. Ann Althouse 2006

  • Some older voters recall the rabid anti-Semites once prominent in the American far-right as well as the more genteel exclusionism practiced by more refined upper-class Republicans.

    Arizona's Short-Sighted Immigration Bill 2010

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