How to say “mad” in 40 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- сумасшедший[sʊmɐˈʂɛt͡ʂʂɨj] Russian
- مجنون/mad͡ʒ.nuːn/ Arabic
- पागल/pɑː.ɡəl/ Hindi
- משוגע/meʃuˈɡa/ Hebrew
- പേ/peː/ Malayalam
“mad” in French: fou · Russian: сумасшедший · Arabic: مجنون · Hindi: पागल
It is commonest in Hindi, where पागल is the 278th most used word.
Mad in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian çmendur[ˈt͡ʃmɛn.du̞ɹ] mad, insane #288
- Arabic مجنون/mad͡ʒ.nuːn/ mad, crazy, insane, possessed #328
- Armenian խենթ/χentʰ/ crazy, mad, foolish #1,422
- Basque zoratu/s̻oɾatu/ to go crazy, go mad, lose your mind #928
- Bulgarian луд[ɫut] crazy, mad, insane #616
- Catalan boig[ˈbɔt͡ʃ] crazy, mad #605
- Chinese 抓狂/ʈ͡ʂu̯ä⁵⁵ kʰu̯ɑŋ³⁵/ to go mad; to be driven crazy; to freak out #2,090
- Czech šílený[ˈʃiːlɛniː] mad, insane #1,297
- Danish gal/ɡaːˀl/ crazy, mad, insane #1,286
- Dutch gek/ɣɛk/ crazy, mad #262
- Esperanto freneza/freˈneza/ insane, crazy, mad #836
- Estonian hull/hulː/ crazy, mad #454
- Finnish hullu/ˈhulːu/ crazy, mad, insane, lunatic #544
- French fou/fu/ mad, crazy #477
- Georgian გიჟი[ɡ̊iʒi] crazy, mad, lunatic #1,176
- German verrückt/fɛɐˈʁʏkt/ crazy, mad #416
- Hebrew משוגע/meʃuˈɡa/ mad, crazy, insane #661
- Hindi पागल/pɑː.ɡəl/ #278
- Icelandic æstur[ˈaistʏr] furious, mad #1,688
- Indonesian marah/ˈmarah/ angry; mad; upset #396
- Italian pazzo/ˈpat.t͡so/ crazy, insane, mad #854
- Latvian traks[ˈtɾaks] mad, rabid #702
- Lithuanian pamišęs[pɐˈmʲɪʃʲæːs] crazy, mad, insane #1,182
- Macedonian луд[ɫut] mad, insane, crazy #427
- Malay marah/ˈmarah/ angry; mad #395
- Malayalam പേ/peː/ mad, wild, vicious #607
- Norwegian sint/ˈsɪnt/ angry, cross, mad #579
- Persian دیوانه[d̪iː.vɒː.ne] mad, insane, crazy #2,102
- Polish szalony/ʂaˈlɔ.nɘ/ crazy, mad, insane #1,761
- Portuguese louco/ˈlo(w).ku/ crazy, mad, insane #807
- Romanian înnebunit/ˌɨnnebuˈnit/ #1,639
- Russian сумасшедший[sʊmɐˈʂɛt͡ʂʂɨj] mad, crazy #2,237
- Slovenian nor/nɔ́r/ crazy, insane, mad #334
- Spanish loco/ˈloko/ crazy, insane, mad, nuts #425
- Swedish galen/²ɡɑːlɛn/ crazy, mad, insane #472
- Tagalog baliw/baˈliw/ insane; crazy; mad #487
- Turkish deli/deˈli/ crazy, mad, insane #538
- Ukrainian божевільний[bɔʒeˈʋʲilʲnei̯] mad, lunatic, crazy, insane, retarded #1,491
- Urdu پاگل/pɑː.ɡəl/ crazy, mad, insane #125
- Vietnamese rồ[zo˨˩] to go mad, to go crazy, to become insane #1,158
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.