rage

American  

[reyj] / reɪdʒ /

noun

1. angry fury; violent anger (sometimes used in combination).

   a speech full of rage;

   incidents of road rage.

   Synonyms:

   madness, ire, passion, frenzy, wrath

   Antonyms:

   calm

2. a fit of violent anger.

   Her rages usually don't last too long.

3. fury or violence of wind, waves, fire, disease, etc.

   Synonyms:

   turbulence

4. violence of feeling, desire, or appetite.

   the rage of thirst.

5. a violent desire or passion.

6. ardor; fervor; enthusiasm.

   poetic rage.

   Synonyms:

   vehemence, eagerness

7. the object of widespread enthusiasm, as for being popular or fashionable.

   Raccoon coats were the rage on campus.

   Synonyms:

   craze, fashion, fad, vogue

8. Archaic. insanity.

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verb (used without object)

raged, raging

1. to act or speak with fury; show or feel violent anger; fulminate.

   Synonyms:

   storm, fume, rave

2. to move, rush, dash, or surge furiously.

   Synonyms:

   storm, fume, rave

3. to proceed, continue, or prevail with great violence.

   The battle raged ten days.

4. (of feelings, opinions, etc.) to hold sway with unabated violence.

idioms

1. all the rage, widely popular or in style.

rage British  

/ reɪdʒ /

noun

1. intense anger; fury

2. violent movement or action, esp of the sea, wind, etc

3. great intensity of hunger, sexual desire, or other feelings

4. aggressive behaviour associated with a specified environment or activity

   road rage

   school rage

5. a fashion or craze (esp in the phrase all the rage )

6. informal a dance or party

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verb

1. to feel or exhibit intense anger

2. (esp of storms, fires, etc) to move or surge with great violence

3. (esp of a disease or epidemic) to spread rapidly and uncontrollably

4. informal to have a good time

rage More Idioms  

1. see all the rage.

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Related Words

See anger.

Other Word Forms

• rageful
  adjective
• ragingly
  adverb

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."

Example Sentences

Over the years, the benefits featured names like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Joan Jett, Rage Against the Machine and others.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026

Rage over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been building for months in the archipelago country of 116 million, where entire towns were buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in the past year.

From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026

Those concepts interlace in his ossuary, enlivened when he plays his tenderly kept records, remnants of human joy all but lost to a Rage pestilence.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2026

Rage bait beat two other shortlisted terms - aura farming and biohack - to win the title.

From BBC • Nov. 30, 2025

Rage may have been simmering deep within me, but my conscious reaction was, “Oh well, that’s okay, Radine. I understand. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

Related Words

• animosity
• bitterness
• exasperation
• excitement
• frenzy
• furor
• fury
• indignation
• irritation
• madness
• mania
• obsession
• outburst
• passion
• resentment
• temper
• violence