madcap
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmædkæp/
ipa: /ˈmædˌkæp/
text: -
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈmæɖˌkæp/
Forms: form: more madcap
form: most madcap
form: mad-cap
form: mad cap
Etymology: The noun is derived from mad + cap (“(informal) head”). The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.
Senses: examples: text: a madcap activity    a madcap idea    a madcap plan
text: The film featured a madcap car chase that went right through a crowded café.
text: O lepidum caput, O mad cap maſter.
ref: c. 1588 (date written; published 1591), [John Lyly], Endimion, the Man in the Moone. […], London: […] I[ohn] Charlewood, for the widdowe Broome, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, signature G, verso:
text: [H]is mad-cap follies, / VVhich ſtill like Hydras heads grovv thicker on him.
ref: 1610–1616 (date written), Iohn [i.e., John] Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas. A Comedy. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1639, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, signature [C4], recto:
text: [T]hose fairy times when I was a mad-cap boy, crowding every enjoyment into the present moment; […]
ref: 1808 January 25, [Washington Irving], “Monday, January 25, 1808. From My Elbow-chair.”, in Salmagundi: Or, The Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. and Others, number 20, London: J[ohn] Limbird, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 137, column 2:
text: The young Oxonian, on the contrary, had led out one of his maiden aunts, on whom the rogue played a thousand little knaveries with impunity; he was full of practical jokes, and his delight was to tease his aunts and cousins; yet, like all mad-cap youngsters, he was a universal favourite among the women.
ref: 1820 January 1, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Christmas Eve”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number V, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 389:
text: [T]he madcap girl ran up to her mother, put her arms round her waiſt, kiſſed her, tried to make her dance, and ſaid: "Don't be ſilly, you kind little mamma, and cry about Frank turning Papiſt. What a figure he muſt be, with a white ſheet and a candle walking in a proceſſion barefoot!"
ref: 1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “I Go Home, and Harp on the Old String”, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume III, London: […] Smith, Elder, & Company, […], →OCLC, page 53:
text: My madcap plan was to catch that 0456, then hang about – probably for the 0624.
ref: 2020 March 25, Steve Roberts, “Parly-vous?”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68:
text: With this shift in both what shows are being made, and in what viewers desire, the genre hearteningly appears to be reverting to its roots of being an entertainment spectacular, giving the space for novelty and mad-cap amusement that's presented in a warm and humorous way. After a discordant patch, it's in tune again – even if some auditionees, as ever, are not.
ref: 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How Talent Shows Became TV’s Most Bizarre Programmes”, in BBC Online, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2025:
glosses: Capricious, impulsive, or reckless; also, bizarre, crazy, zany; or foolish, idiotic.