Madder than a wet hen
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Extremely angry, indignant, or agitated, especially in a visibly flustered and noisy way. Folksy and emphatic. It usually makes anger sound colorful rather than threatening. Regional use: American English, especially rural and Southern-associated speech.
Origin
The American comparison 'mad as a wet hen' is documented from 1823, with 'madder than a wet hen' developing as a natural comparative variant. Hens had already appeared in other wet-hen comparisons, so the image was culturally familiar. A popular explanation says farmers dunked broody hens to stop them sitting and that the birds emerged furious. That practice may help modern speakers picture the phrase, but the surviving linguistic evidence does not prove it caused the idiom, and claims about how every hen reacts to water are unreliable.
Research Sources
Variants
- Mad as a wet hen
- As mad as a wet hen
Usage Examples
- When the council moved her fence without notice, Ada was madder than a wet hen.
- The coach came into the dressing room as mad as a wet hen after the penalty.
- He was madder than a wet hen when he discovered the invoice had been paid twice.