warpath
Americannoun
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warpaths
plural
idioms
noun
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the route taken by North American Indians on a warlike expedition
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preparing to engage in battle
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informal in a state of anger
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Sensitive Note
See powwow.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of warpath
Explanation
A warpath is either the road to a battle or a hostile, aggressive mood. Note: there's probably going to be trouble when someone is on either warpath. This was originally a Native American term for a real path: a warpath was the route taken on the way to a known or planned conflict. The warpath was the way to war. From there, this became a general term for being angry or combative — usually preceded by the words on the. A volatile, swearing boss is on the warpath. An angry driver swearing at other drivers is on the warpath. It's best to avoid people when they're on the warpath.
Vocabulary lists containing warpath
Dead End in Norvelt
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Indian No More
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The School Story
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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:
First used by Ottoman military "mehter" bands to frighten and demoralise the enemy, cymbals were a useful tool for an empire on the warpath.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, a progressive think tank, said President Trump appears to be on a warpath.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Nicola Baird, the founder of We Won't Be Scammed, is on the warpath.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
He told The Post he is “on a warpath of transparency for the SBC.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2021
Why did his mother have to go on the warpath just when everything was so great in his life?
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
You are brave men: had you no enemies there, and no warpaths?
From To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston
All these familiar warpaths to every Waubanakee warrior, with every stream and landmark bearing names his fathers had given them, led through Vermont, then only known to English-speaking men as "The Wilderness."
From Vermont A Study of Independence by Rowland E. (Evans) Robinson
Perhaps, for he had ridden on a great many warpaths with the fierce and merciless Lipans.
From The Talking Leaves An Indian Story by William Osborn Stoddard
You and I have been on a good many warpaths together.
From The Frontiersmen by Gustave Aimard
I had been on many warpaths, but was not especially successful until about the time the Sioux began to fight with the white man.
From Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains by Charles Alexander Eastman
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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.
