rage
Americannoun
-
rages
plural
-
angry fury; violent anger (sometimes used in combination).
a speech full of rage;
incidents of road rage.
- Antonyms:
- calm
-
a fit of violent anger.
Her rages usually don't last too long.
-
fury or violence of wind, waves, fire, disease, etc.
- Synonyms:
- turbulence
-
violence of feeling, desire, or appetite.
the rage of thirst.
-
a violent desire or passion.
-
ardor; fervor; enthusiasm.
poetic rage.
-
the object of widespread enthusiasm, as for being popular or fashionable.
Raccoon coats were the rage on campus.
-
Archaic. insanity.
verb (used without object)
-
rages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
raged,
past participle, past
-
raging
present participle
-
to act or speak with fury; show or feel violent anger; fulminate.
-
to move, rush, dash, or surge furiously.
-
to proceed, continue, or prevail with great violence.
The battle raged ten days.
-
(of feelings, opinions, etc.) to hold sway with unabated violence.
idioms
noun
-
intense anger; fury
-
violent movement or action, esp of the sea, wind, etc
-
great intensity of hunger, sexual desire, or other feelings
-
aggressive behaviour associated with a specified environment or activity
road rage
school rage
-
a fashion or craze (esp in the phrase all the rage )
-
informal a dance or party
verb
-
to feel or exhibit intense anger
-
(esp of storms, fires, etc) to move or surge with great violence
-
(esp of a disease or epidemic) to spread rapidly and uncontrollably
-
informal to have a good time
Synonym Usage
See anger.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ragesimple
-
ragessimple
-
have ragedperfect
-
has ragedperfect
-
am ragingprogressive
-
are ragingprogressive
-
is ragingprogressive
-
have been ragingperfect progressive
-
has been ragingperfect progressive
Past
-
ragedsimple
-
had ragedperfect
-
was ragingprogressive
-
were ragingprogressive
-
had been ragingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rage
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin rabia, Latin rabiēs “madness” ( see rabies ( def. )), derivative of rabere “to be mad, rave”; verb derivative of the noun
Explanation
Rage is a really intense anger. Some frustrated drivers let their emotions boil over into road rage when another car cuts them off, for example. If you're full of rage, you're full of anger — powerful, extreme, sometimes even violent anger. Rage can also be a verb: you might rage against something you hate or as the poet Dylan Thomas pleaded, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Things that rage are out of control, like a raging, roaring fire or a wild storm. Another meaning involves the latest, greatest trend — you'd say it's "all the rage."
Vocabulary lists containing rage
Emotions on Display
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Instead of "Said": Vexed Verbiage to Express Anger
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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:
People with names like the other six accused also complained about rage spamming and threats.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Agents are all the rage, from Meta’s Muse to xAI’s Grokbot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
"We could have very easily been consumed by hate and anger and rage at what happened – and those feelings are still there," said Katie.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
They said she was furious at coworkers, planning to quit her job and channeling that rage into her driving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Mal watched, her lips pressed together and her eyes hot with rage.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
He sent the letter as a fierce debate rages over whether the development of AI should be slowed.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
When Berenger stumbles into the office, a debate rages about whether news of a stray pachyderm can be credited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Feelings bubbled up uncontrollably: inconsolable howls in infancy, classroom meltdowns in childhood, rages in adolescence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The debate about social media and child safety rages on, as Meta faces a slew of similar lawsuits similar to this one.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Gawaine, at the sight of steel, went into one of his blind rages.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
As the country raged that the Broncos got hosed, the man in charge of the team took the high road.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
As the fire raged, mother and son used garden hoses to defend their property as nearby dwellings were torched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
In some ways, the situation is reminiscent of an argument that raged in the 1950s over “who lost China.”
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
A child and three firefighters were among those taken to hospital as several fires raged across the West Midlands, destroying homes and forcing dozens of residents to evacuate from their houses.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Madoc raged, but since his approval of a thing only makes her despise it, all his railing just made her more determined to never, ever go back.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto on Monday ordered the government to mobilise maximum efforts to battle wildfires that have been raging for three months in some places.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Wildfires raging in Indonesia have produced toxic smog, causing around 175,000 people to suffer respiratory illnesses since August.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
It appears almost lifeless, with the ash transformed into raging mudflows called lahars in every storm.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
By the time the game kicks off, however, the Rebels’ total war on Kiffin, the man who led them for six seasons, will have been raging for months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Within half an hour, I have a raging headache from all the lights, and the funnel cake I force down...well, let’s just say it doesn’t do me any digestive favors.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
