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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ragesimple
-
ragessimple
-
have ragedperfect
-
has ragedperfect
-
am ragingprogressive
-
are ragingprogressive
-
is ragingprogressive
-
have been ragingperfect progressive
-
has been ragingperfect progressive
Past
-
ragedsimple
-
had ragedperfect
-
was ragingprogressive
-
were ragingprogressive
-
had been ragingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
There’s a righteous feminist rage underneath the scene as well, a modernization that brings “The Odyssey” fiercely and disturbingly up to date.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
That made its giant beast gods feel real too, along with their snarling rage against annihilation.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Rather than rage in songs about life as social misfits while accompanied by jack-hammering guitars, the group blended the minimalism of punk with the romantic innocence of rockabilly, rock ’n’ roll and doo-wop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
But across the border, the conflict unleashed by the 2021 military coup continues to rage.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Last night’s thunderstorm continued to rage on into the next day.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Every Emmy season, a battle rages over which network or streamer earns the most nominations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
As the debate rages, in Las Vegas a purpose-built arena is ready to welcome more than 2,000 invited guests to an event that will be streamed live to those curious enough to watch.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
But they have proved unwilling while the conflict rages.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
“Each day the war rages, we see a reckoning slowly approaching.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 24, 2026
Outside, the wind rages, sending branches and leaves tumbling past my window.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily in France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated across both countries.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
As the global Covid-19 pandemic raged, Xiao inked a deal with Chinese genomics company BGI to create one of the largest testing labs in the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Earlier this month, hundreds of firefighters battled a wildfire that raged near the Costa Brava coast that draws tourists from across Europe and forced thousands to stay indoors.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
A flood of anger and sorrow raged through his body, and tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
The fires in Spain that have been raging for days in and around the Madrid region are the biggest in the area’s history, ripping through dry vegetation, homes and campsites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Similarly in California through the summer of 2021, the intense fires raging across the western United States generated pyrocumulonimbus.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Here are the main developments related to the wildfires raging in Spain and France on Sunday:
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
In Spain, emergency responders were beginning to make some progress in efforts to contain the wildfires that have been raging in and near the Madrid region for days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
At any moment, I expected an Egyptian plague, an arrow of Shiva, or a raging djinn, but none came.
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.