enrage
Americanverb (used with object)
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enrages,
present (3rd person singular)
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enraged,
past participle, past
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enraging
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
Enrage, incense, infuriate imply stirring to violent anger. To enrage or to infuriate is to provoke wrath: They enrage ( infuriate ) him by their deliberate and continual injustice. To incense is to inflame with indignation or anger: to incense a person by making insulting remarks.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enragesimple
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enragessimple
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have enragedperfect
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has enragedperfect
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am enragingprogressive
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are enragingprogressive
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is enragingprogressive
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have been enragingperfect progressive
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has been enragingperfect progressive
Past
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enragedsimple
-
had enragedperfect
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was enragingprogressive
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were enragingprogressive
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had been enragingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enrage
First recorded in 1490–1500; from Middle French enrager, see en- 1, rage
Explanation
Things that enrage you make you mad. Really mad. People are not typically enraged by annoying things like paper cuts or long lines. They are more likely to become enraged by evil or injustice. Something that enrages you makes you incredibly angry. The news that their favorite teacher has been fired might enrage a group of students, and witnessing someone mistreating an animal might also enrage them. The 14th century verb enrage combines the prefix en-, "make or put in," and rage, with its Latin root rabies, "madness, rage, or fury."
Vocabulary lists containing enrage
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: en-, em-
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The Bad Beginning
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Anger (verb)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s the Epstein files that really enrage Kasamis.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
In Hostilities, players anonymously wrote questions intended to embarrass or enrage other players, the more intimate the better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
In exchange for helping to nail Leasure, France got immunity from the D.A.’s office — a deal that would forever enrage detectives on the case.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024
The grizzled beat reporter with vast experience has been replaced by smiling, blissfully ignorant and much cheaper talking heads who can either entice or enrage an audience with their good looks while sounding knowledgeable.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2023
She would have thought a question like that, which was almost an insult, would enrage the great creature beyond reason, and she wondered at Farder Coram’s courage in asking it.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
“It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
When Mr. Sveen says wolves “ruined” 40 lambs in one night, we assume he means they were left dead and uneaten and this enrages him, not unjustifiably.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
And on the social media site X, where he has 425,000 followers, Mr. Tan doesn’t just rub some people the wrong way, he enrages them.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
This enrages Roy, who pushes over the podium and storms offstage with the other Roy Tillmans following him, aping his every gesture and statement.
From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2024
Whose heavy breathing neither enrages nor disgusts, but amuses you like that of a cherished pet.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
He was enraged that Harris hired his own lawyers and PR consultants as the Epstein crisis engulfed Apollo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
“Mr. Shakur saw Christopher Wallace became enraged and began yelling,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
People are too busy searching for things “to be enraged about,” he said.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
The Times reporting enraged Trump, and the administration tried to unmask the paper’s sources before ultimately backing down.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
“It needs to be big enough so that they can’t punish everyone without risking an enraged student body,” Rawiya added.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
LSU’s Lane Kiffin wants to add former NFL rookies to his roster, enraging the sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
There are noteworthy nuggets, as we set out here, and the revelations about his payoff will be, to many, enraging.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
His superpower is enraging his opponents to the point that they can’t help but make a mistake out of sheer frustration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
An appeals court declined to compel lower courts to sign the warrants, reportedly enraging Attorney General Pam Bondi.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026
In the age of the telegraph, news of his words moved swiftly back to South Africa, enraging its white inhabitants.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
