outrage
Americannoun
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outrages
plural
-
an act of wanton cruelty or violence; any gross violation of law or decency.
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anything that strongly offends, insults, or affronts the feelings.
-
a powerful feeling of resentment or anger aroused by something perceived as an injury, insult, or injustice.
Outrage seized the entire nation at the news of the attempted assassination.
verb (used with object)
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outrages,
present (3rd person singular)
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outraged,
past participle, past
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outraging
present participle
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to subject to grievous violence or indignity.
-
to anger or offend; make resentful; shock.
I am outraged by his whole attitude.
-
to offend against (right, decency, feelings, etc.) grossly or shamelessly.
Such conduct outrages our normal sense of decency.
-
to rape.
- Synonyms:
- violate
noun
-
a wantonly vicious or cruel act
-
a gross violation of decency, morality, honour, etc
-
profound indignation, anger, or hurt, caused by such an act
verb
-
to cause profound indignation, anger, or resentment in
-
to offend grossly (feelings, decency, human dignity, etc)
-
to commit an act of wanton viciousness, cruelty, or indecency on
-
a euphemistic word for rape 1
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
outragesimple
-
outragessimple
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have outragedperfect
-
has outragedperfect
-
am outragingprogressive
-
are outragingprogressive
-
is outragingprogressive
-
have been outragingperfect progressive
-
has been outragingperfect progressive
Past
-
outragedsimple
-
had outragedperfect
-
was outragingprogressive
-
were outragingprogressive
-
had been outragingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outrage
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French outrage, ultrage, equivalent to outr ( er ) to push beyond bounds (derivative of outre beyond < Latin ultrā ) + -age -age
Explanation
If you consider how people are treated in airports an outrage, you get really angry over airport security or the price of airport food. Six dollars for a piece of pizza? What an outrage! Something is an outrage when it is shocking and makes you angry. Stealing from an orphanage? That's an outrage. Sometimes outrage leads to action. Public outrage over the latest political scandal often makes the news.
Vocabulary lists containing outrage
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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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:
Sources have told the paper the cancellation is a "disgusting outrage".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Much of the outrage in Ukraine this week has been over restrictions to the Starshield satellite communications system that its military relies upon to detect incoming Russian attacks and to coordinate its frontline response.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
“It’s been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The author is a first-rate storyteller, and here he delivers something we don’t get much of these days: fun—a modern Horatio Alger story unattached to the politics of outrage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
It was Jen’s dad’s voice coming from the hall, full of outrage.
From "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
This editorial is hard to read, but unless we want to experience similar terror-driven antisemitic outrages in the future, the truth must be told and retold to and by people of good will.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Major broadcasters give these outrages the same weight as other headlines.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
It reveals an American elite blinded to outrages occurring in plain view, due to the clubby nature of high society.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2025
In an interview with historian Brian Harrison in the 1970s, Jessie recalled the so-called "pillar box outrages" were planned "with military precision."
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025
There were no further outrages in the neighborhood.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
"We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
To the media and to outraged internet commentators, it didn’t matter that two-thirds of Latino men had responded that each of those three issues was “very important” or “somewhat important.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
While Griffin and fellow business leaders were outraged by the stunt, Mamdani’s poll numbers haven’t suffered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
When Peters was sentenced, Trump declared himself outraged.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Two motorists we passed looked out of their windows outraged as she swept by, and one pedestrian in a lane waved his stick at her.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
In the months since, he has expanded the deployments of troops to US cities, outraging critics.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025
The court also rejected calls for Husain, then in exile, to be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of outraging religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2025
Russia enacted a similar law that year, outraging women’s rights advocates.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
A controlled burn in Calaveras Big Trees State Park has badly damaged a pair of giant sequoias named ‘the Orphans,’ outraging community members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
There may be a ceremony, but it is a hollow mockery—an outraging of every principle of real virtue.
From The Bail Jumper by Robert J. C. Stead
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
