mad as a hatter
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English
Etymology
First recorded 1829. Of uncertain origin, though usually explained as referring to hat-makers suffering from Erethism due to handling mercury-contaminated felt. Derivation from Old English ātor (“poison”) or its descendant English atter lacks evidence.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌmæd æz ə ˈhætə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌmæd æz ə ˈhætɚ/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Adjective
mad as a hatter (not comparable)
- Crazy or demented.
- 1857, [Thomas Hughes], chapter III, in Tom Brown’s School Days. , Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
- He's a very good fellow, but as mad as a hatter. He's called Madman, you know. And never was such a fellow for getting all sorts of rum things about him. He tamed two snakes last half, and used to carry them about in his pocket; and I'll be bound he's got some hedgehogs and rats in his cupboard now, and no one knows what besides.
- 1895, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 7, in A House-Boat on the Styx:
- "I think he’d be as mad as a hatter at your insinuation that he would invite any of his wives, if all I hear of him is true; and what I’ve heard, Wolsey has told me."
- 1904, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “The Experiment of Mr. Buck”, in The Napoleon of Notting Hill, London; New York, N.Y.: John Lane, The Bodley Head, →OCLC, book III, page 176:
- I think Adam Wayne, who is as mad as a hatter, worth more than a million of you. But you have the force, and, I admit, the common sense, and he is lost.
- 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Blurring of the Lines”, in The Poison Belt , London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 31:
- Once Lord John passed across his newspaper, upon the margin of which he had written in pencil, "Poor devil! Mad as a hatter." No doubt it was very eccentric, and yet the performance struck me as extraordinarily clever and amusing.
- 1920 October, Agatha Christie, “The Arrest”, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles , New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1927, page 218:
- Sometimes, I feel sure he is as mad as a hatter; and then, just as he is at his maddest, I find there is method in his madness.
- 1939, Agatha Christie, chapter 11, in And Then There Were None:
- If you ask me that woman's as mad as a hatter.
Synonyms
- disturbed, insane, loopy, nutty
- mad as a March hare
- See also Thesaurus:insane
Related terms
Translations
demented or crazy
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