Word.ws English Dictionary

that way madness lies

that way madness lies phrase: the mentioned activity, line of inquiry, etc., should not be pursued because it will cause frustration, anger, etc., and lead to no good.

Phrase

that way madness lies

  1. (excessive) The mentioned activity, line of inquiry, etc., should not be pursued because it will cause frustration, anger, etc., and lead to no good.
    • Your old kind Father, whoſe franke heart gaue all, / O that way madneſſe lies, let me ſhun that: / No more of that.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • You see what we're up against here. "Timecop," a low-rent "Terminator," is the kind of movie that is best not thought about at all, for that way madness lies.1994 September 16, Roger Ebert, “Timecop”, in Chicago Sunday Times, archived from the original on 13 Nov 2005

Forms of that way madness lies

alternative formthat way lies madness

Origin of that way madness lies

From The Tragedy of King Lear (c. 1606), see quotations.

Questions about that way madness lies

What does that way madness lies mean?
That way madness lies means the mentioned activity, line of inquiry, etc., should not be pursued because it will cause frustration, anger, etc., and lead to no good.
What part of speech is that way madness lies?
That way madness lies is a phrase.

Words near that way madness lies in the dictionary

  1. that was then and this is now
  2. that was then, this is now
  3. that was then; this is now
  4. that way
  5. that way inclined
  6. that way madness lies
  7. that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger
  8. that which has been seen cannot be unseen
  9. that will do
  10. that'd
  11. that'd've

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: that way madness lies (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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