Make Your Point: MADCAP

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pronounce MADCAP:

MAD cap

connect this word to others:

Madcap things are zany, crazy, impulsive, harebrained, foolhardy, or fre___ic ("moving in a wild, fast, crazy, uncontrolled way").

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

In the word "madcap," "mad" means "crazy, insane;" and "cap" means "head." So, in its oldest and most literal sense, a madcap was a crazy-headed person: a maniac, a madman.

These days, though, we most often use a looser meaning of the word. Something madcap reminds you of something a maniac or madman would do because it's wild, crazy, weird, and impulsive.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Sometimes a noun, the countable kind, as in "They're a bunch of madcaps."

More often an adjective: "madcap adventures," "madcap ideas," "a madcap trip to Europe."

Other forms:

None are common.

how to use it:

"Madcap" is a fun, silly, colorful word that often carries a slightly positive tone. Pick it when you want to laugh about something insane, unhinged, or unplanned.

We talk about madcap trips, journeys, adventures, stories, movies, TV shows, performances, characters, games, and parties. Anything that takes one wild turn after another can be called madcap.

examples:

"There's a madcap storyline – Donkey Kong's tropical idyll has been invaded by interlopers from the frozen north, including Vikings, penguins and the like."
— Steve Boxer, The Guardian, 11 June 2013

"Watching the original Animaniacs today is probably the closest you can get to scrolling through a TikTok feed from the mid-’90s. The madcap variety show was like Looney Tunes by way of golden-age Saturday Night Live, a pre-social media era meme factory that seemed more interested in parodying show business and celebrity than actually entertaining children."
— Joshua Rivera, The Verge, 25 November 2020

has this page helped you understand "madcap"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "madcap" without saying "impulsive" or "filled with wacky twists and turns."

try it out:

In a theater review of "The Asphalt Christmas," which is a "satirical mash-up of old Hollywood movies, Christmas-related and otherwise," Laura Collins-Hughes summed it up it like this:

"Aiming to be madcap, it dashes off in multiple directions."

That's probably fair. The story involves a nun, a priest, a stripper, a Christmas pageant, and an exorcism.

With that in mind as an example, talk about another story (maybe from a book, a movie, or another stage play) that aims to be madcap. In your opinion, does the madcap storyline work? If it seems to dash off in multiple directions, does that ultimately amuse you or frustrate you?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Name the Game!"

I'll share some tidbits about a particular board game with a one-word name, and you try to name it.

You can scroll all the way down to see the game's real name. Maybe you'll come up with the correct name, or one that’s just as apt!

Try this one today:

The game's name is 3 syllables.

It starts with C.

"It is imperative to reclaim... the sacred mountain, ancestral home of the Dwarves... Players will… drive out their enemies while rebuilding their ancestral home... The clan that has accumulated the most glory will [win]."

review this word:

1. The opposite of MADCAP could be

A. VIOLENT.
B. SENSIBLE.
C. EXPANDED.

2. Irene Hunt used the older sense of the word "madcap," "_____," in her novel Across Five Aprils: "Color was splashed through the woods as if it had been thrown about by some madcap wastrel who spilled out, during the weeks of one brief autumn, beauty enough to last for years."

A. artistic
B. childlike
C. maniacal

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
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  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
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How to motivate our kids to write.
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From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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