"method to one's madness" meaning in English

See method to one's madness in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: methods to one's madness [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|methods to one's madness}} method to one's madness (plural methods to one's madness)
  1. (idiomatic) A well-thought-out reason for an individual's seemingly illogical behavior. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-method_to_one's_madness-en-noun-ssvoiEKe Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for method to one's madness meaning in English (2.6kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "methods to one's madness",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "methods to one's madness"
      },
      "expansion": "method to one's madness (plural methods to one's madness)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1938, Henry John Otto, compiler, Changes in Classroom Teaching, 1936-1937: The Administrative Problems, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, page 15",
          "text": "\"Why is my child not reading in his own book? I bought the books—you see that he reads them!\" talked to these parents and convinced them that there really was a \"method to my madness\". I wanted attractive pre-primers—small books with easy reading material – something to attract his attention to books. Give the child confidence in his first attempts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Christopher Black, Memoir of a Teenage Love Affair, iUniverse, page 13",
          "text": "Usually there is a method to my madness. I usually have a profound reason as to why I write. Tonight, I do not.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Charles B. Lawless, The Tyro Dossier: Beginning Principles for Young Asset Managers to ..., Dorrance Publishing, page 26",
          "text": "I would also like to think that there is, indeed, a method to my madness, and that stems from being a natural at “out of the box” thinking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Ray S. Coco, The Noblest Volume Ii: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry, Xlibris, page 198",
          "text": "Eventually I came up with my idea as there's always been a method to my madness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Roger Lipp, Happy Habits for Every Couple: 21 Days to a Better Relationship, Harvest House Publishers, page 35",
          "text": "If 21 days seems like an arbitrary amount of time, let me explain the method to my madness. We've all heard the old adage that it takes 21 days to either make or break a habit, and I've found this to be true in many areas of my life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A well-thought-out reason for an individual's seemingly illogical behavior."
      ],
      "id": "en-method_to_one's_madness-en-noun-ssvoiEKe",
      "links": [
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        [
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          "illogical"
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        [
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A well-thought-out reason for an individual's seemingly illogical behavior."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "method to one's madness"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "methods to one's madness",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "methods to one's madness"
      },
      "expansion": "method to one's madness (plural methods to one's madness)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1938, Henry John Otto, compiler, Changes in Classroom Teaching, 1936-1937: The Administrative Problems, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, page 15",
          "text": "\"Why is my child not reading in his own book? I bought the books—you see that he reads them!\" talked to these parents and convinced them that there really was a \"method to my madness\". I wanted attractive pre-primers—small books with easy reading material – something to attract his attention to books. Give the child confidence in his first attempts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Christopher Black, Memoir of a Teenage Love Affair, iUniverse, page 13",
          "text": "Usually there is a method to my madness. I usually have a profound reason as to why I write. Tonight, I do not.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Charles B. Lawless, The Tyro Dossier: Beginning Principles for Young Asset Managers to ..., Dorrance Publishing, page 26",
          "text": "I would also like to think that there is, indeed, a method to my madness, and that stems from being a natural at “out of the box” thinking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Ray S. Coco, The Noblest Volume Ii: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry, Xlibris, page 198",
          "text": "Eventually I came up with my idea as there's always been a method to my madness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Roger Lipp, Happy Habits for Every Couple: 21 Days to a Better Relationship, Harvest House Publishers, page 35",
          "text": "If 21 days seems like an arbitrary amount of time, let me explain the method to my madness. We've all heard the old adage that it takes 21 days to either make or break a habit, and I've found this to be true in many areas of my life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A well-thought-out reason for an individual's seemingly illogical behavior."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "well-thought-out",
          "well-thought-out"
        ],
        [
          "reason",
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        ],
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        ],
        [
          "seemingly",
          "seemingly"
        ],
        [
          "illogical",
          "illogical"
        ],
        [
          "behavior",
          "behavior"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A well-thought-out reason for an individual's seemingly illogical behavior."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "method to one's madness"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (4d5d0bb and edd475d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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