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
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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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The Sound and the Fury: Synonyms for "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:
It’s the Epstein files that really enrage Kasamis.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
Keeping him could further enrage opponents and even members of his own party in Parliament, known as the Rada.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 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
This answer served only to enrage Lion further.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
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
Potholes is perhaps the archetypal example of an issue that enrages many.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
“There is enough housing, it’s just they’re not for the residents. It really enrages me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
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
It twiddles along for a minute through the air and lands on the brown ottoman, which enrages my mother because it didn’t fall fast enough or land hard enough.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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
Yes, the first goal was controversial, and enraged many - not just around me that day but in England and all over the world for many years.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The muster of Spartan homoioi was down to about 1,000 when an enraged Spartan king, Agesilaus, forced a showdown with Thebes, a far more populous city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
An enraged President Reagan called the downing of Korean Airlines flight 007 "an act of barbarism."
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Maine called his death "devastating, enraging, and unacceptable" in a joint statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Such a move would buy time, but also run the risk of enraging Trump at a delicate moment in U.S.-Mexico relations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 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
He stood silently for a moment, trying to think of how to say no without further enraging Trademaster.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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.
