go ballistic

Idioms  

1. Become extremely upset or angry, as in Dad will go ballistic when he sees you dented the new car. This expression, a variation on go berserk, originally alluded to a guided missile going out of control. [Slang; mid-1980s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go ballistic

"We knew that we had to go ballistic after how they batted. We had to take risks and thankfully they came off," said Bairstow.

From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2024

Dictators such as North Korea’s Kim Jong Un would conclude that you can go ballistic and survive.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 23, 2022

Something small, like a guy blows a horn at me, and man, my insides go ballistic.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2022

Plenty of hospitals and physician groups would go ballistic if the axe actually fell, but in the grand scheme of things, it probably wouldn’t lead to a lot of human suffering or dysfunction.

From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2021

When they see that I’m not going to go ballistic on them, they finally start to laugh as well—a little.

From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper

Related Words

• freak out
• go off
• lose it