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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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
After all, what could enrage reactionaries more than a confident, gender-bending, anti-colonial Puerto Rican performing in Spanish on the country’s most mythologized stage?
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 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
Unfortunately, one of the easiest ways to engage people is to enrage them.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2025
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
It enrages her that “some people have more barriers than others, whether it means that you’re working class or poor, or a person of color, or queer, or part of the gender spectrum.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 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
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
“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
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 enraged timbre in Papa’s voice made my fingers cold at the tips.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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
It also had a habit of irritating and, occasionally, enraging the president so much that he wanted it cancelled.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2025
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
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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.
