rage
Americannoun
-
angry fury; violent anger (sometimes used in combination).
a speech full of rage;
incidents of road rage.
- Antonyms:
- calm
-
a fit of violent anger.
Her rages usually don't last too long.
-
fury or violence of wind, waves, fire, disease, etc.
- Synonyms:
- turbulence
-
violence of feeling, desire, or appetite.
the rage of thirst.
-
a violent desire or passion.
-
ardor; fervor; enthusiasm.
poetic rage.
-
the object of widespread enthusiasm, as for being popular or fashionable.
Raccoon coats were the rage on campus.
-
Archaic. insanity.
verb (used without object)
-
to act or speak with fury; show or feel violent anger; fulminate.
-
to move, rush, dash, or surge furiously.
-
to proceed, continue, or prevail with great violence.
The battle raged ten days.
-
(of feelings, opinions, etc.) to hold sway with unabated violence.
idioms
noun
-
intense anger; fury
-
violent movement or action, esp of the sea, wind, etc
-
great intensity of hunger, sexual desire, or other feelings
-
aggressive behaviour associated with a specified environment or activity
road rage
school rage
-
a fashion or craze (esp in the phrase all the rage )
-
informal a dance or party
verb
-
to feel or exhibit intense anger
-
(esp of storms, fires, etc) to move or surge with great violence
-
(esp of a disease or epidemic) to spread rapidly and uncontrollably
-
informal to have a good time
Synonym Usage
See anger.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has ragedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have ragedperfect
-
has been ragingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
are ragingprogressive
-
is ragingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
am ragingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been ragingperfect progressive
-
ragessingular 3rd person
-
ragingparticiple
Past
-
had ragedperfect
-
was ragingprogressive singular
-
had been ragingperfect progressive
-
were ragingprogressive plural
-
ragedsimple
-
ragedparticiple
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing rage
Emotions on Display
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Instead of "Said": Vexed Verbiage to Express 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.
“I hadn’t really read a script where a woman at my age was so recognizably full of love and rage and joy,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Confronted with the truth, I felt rage, confusion, shock and shame.
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026
He added: "Henry's family have responded to this in just the most extraordinarily dignified way. But I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure, cold rage."
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
Space stocks have been all the rage ahead of SpaceX’s massive initial public offering.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
In his rage, he sounded like a snarling dog.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
