Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

madcap

UK /ˈmædkæp/ · US /ˈmædˌkæp/ noun, adjective

Forms madcaps mad-cap mad cap

  1. noun A person who acts in a capricious, impulsive, or reckless manner.
  2. noun (South Asia) A very foolish or irresponsible person; a fool, an idiot.
  3. noun (obsolete, rare) An insane person; a lunatic.
  4. adjective Capricious, impulsive, or reckless; also, bizarre, crazy, zany; or foolish, idiotic. “a madcap activity    a madcap idea    a madcap plan”

Synonyms

mad lad madlad fathead alcatote asshat arsehole asshole bayard berk birdbrain blither bobchin bonehead bozo buffoon brickhead Charlie chucklehead chowderhead chump daredevil hothead swashbuckler lunatic harum-scarum hotheaded impulsive impetuous tearaway brainish

Etymology

The noun is derived from mad + cap (“(informal) head”). The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Inclined to wild sports; delighting in rash, absurd, or dangerous amusements. "The merry madcap
  2. adjective lord." Shak.
  3. noun A person of wild behavior; an excitable, rash, violent person.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “madcap”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details