go ballistic

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]

Example Sentences

“I knocked on the door, they answered it for some reason and I just started going ballistic.”

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In an interview about the case given to investigators years later during Cox’s appeals process, Wilson said that this blow left the prosecutor “going ballistic.”

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NBC reported that in the final days before Trump made the decision, Trump was leaning in the direction of Burgum, causing the boys to go ballistic:

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

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The extremists went ballistic over this, cornering Johnson on the floor and he eventually shot down the rumor, saying the rule would not be changed.

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Related Words

• freak out 
• go off 
• lose it