rage
(a period of) extreme or violent anger
Her sudden towering rages were terrifying.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
rage
noun
very strong anger:
Sue stormed out of the room in a rage.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
rage
I. rage1 /reɪdʒ/ BrE AmE noun
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin rabies 'anger, wildness', from rabere 'to be wild with anger']
1. [uncountable and countable] a strong feeling of uncontrollable anger:
Sobbing with rage, Carol was taken to the hospital.
in a rage
Sam became quite frightening when he was in a rage.
cry/scream/roar etc of rage
Just then, she heard Mr Evan’s bellow of rage.
red/dark/purple with rage
His face was red with rage.
trembling/shaking with rage
Forester stared at his car, trembling with rage.
seething/incandescent with rage (=as angry as a person can possibly be)
Animal rights supporters were incandescent with rage.
Richens was 17 when he flew into a rage and stabbed another teenager.
2. be all the rage informal to be very popular or fashionable:
DiCaprio became all the rage after starring in the film ‘Titanic’.
3. rage for something a situation in which something is very popular or fashionable:
the rage for mobile phones
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ shake/tremble with rage His wife was shaking with rage.
▪ seethe with rage The injustice of it made Melissa seethe with rage.
▪ cry with rage I was crying with rage and frustration.
▪ explode with rage (also fly into a rage) (=suddenly become very angry) She knew her father would explode with rage if he found out.
■ phrases
▪ be in a rage Moran was in a rage about some tools that had been left out in the rain.
▪ be speechless with rage Speechless with rage, he hurled the letter in the fire before storming out.
▪ be beside yourself with rage (=be so angry that you cannot control yourself) They had been publicly humiliated and were beside themselves with rage.
▪ be incandescent with rage formal (=be extremely angry) The Queen was incandescent with rage.
▪ be white with rage I could see she was white with rage.
▪ somebody's face is dark/red/purple with rage His face went purple with rage.
▪ somebody's face is twisted/contorted with rage Mike's usually calm face was contorted with rage.
▪ a fit of rage In a fit of rage, he seized the poor man by the shoulders and shouted at him.
▪ a cry/howl/bellow etc of rage She remembered his cries of rage as he was taken away.
▪ tears of rage Her eyes were now full of tears of rage.
■ adjectives
▪ a jealous rage He killed his wife in a jealous rage.
▪ a drunken rage He smashed up his former girlfriend's car in a drunken rage.
▪ a blind/uncontrollable rage (=extreme uncontrolled anger that makes someone violent) He lashed out in a blind rage.
▪ murderous rage (=anger that makes someone capable of murder) Captain Black was in a murderous rage.
▪ a towering rage (=extremely angry) He was in a towering rage.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ extreme anger
▪ fury a very strong feeling of anger: The judge sparked fury when he freed a man who had attacked three women. | The decision caused fury among local people.
▪ rage a very strong feeling of anger that is difficult to control or is expressed very suddenly or violently: When we accused him of lying, he flew into a rage (=became very angry very suddenly). | Brown killed his wife in a jealous rage.
▪ outrage extreme anger and shock because you think something is unfair or wrong: The racist comments caused outrage in India and Britain.
▪ wrath formal extreme anger: Pietersen was the next to incur the wrath of the referee (=make him angry).
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
rage
rage [rage rages raged raging] noun, verb [reɪdʒ] [reɪdʒ]
noun
1. uncountable, countable a feeling of violent anger that is difficult to control
• His face was dark with rage.
• to be shaking/trembling/speechless with rage
• Sue stormed out of the room in a rage.
• He flies into a rage if you even mention the subject.
2. uncountable (in compounds) anger and violent behaviour caused by a particular situation
• a case of trolley rage in the supermarket
see also road rage
Word Origin:
Middle English (also in the sense ‘madness’): from Old French rage (noun), rager (verb), from a variant of Latin rabies, from rabere ‘rave’.
Example Bank:
• ‘How dare you!’ she said, her voice choked with rage.
• A motorist was assaulted in a road rage attack.
• Blind rage consumed him.
• He flew into a rage at the insult.
• He gave a roar of rage and punched me in the face.
• He glared at me, quite beside himself with rage.
• He left in a rage of humiliation.
• He managed to master his rage.
• He punched the wall in a fit of rage.
• He was boiling with rage at the unfairness of it all.
• He was filled with rage.
• He was in a towering rage about his lost watch.
• He was literally shaking with rage.
• He was prone to violent rages.
• Her eyes were burning with rage.
• Her rage boiled over as she burst into tears.
• Her voice was trembling with rage.
• His answer only seemed to fuel her rage.
• His rage suddenly erupted.
• His rage was beginning to subside.
• I was seething with rage.
• If something's too difficult she gets in a rage.
• Ron felt rage boil up inside him.
• She felt the rage building up inside her.
• She killed him in a rage of despair.
• She smashed up his car in a drunken rage.
• She started hitting him in a drunken rage.
• She was burning with impotent rage.
• The people vented their rage on government buildings.
• She stormed out of the room in a rage.
• Sue stormed out in a rage.
Idiom: all the rage
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
rage / reɪdʒ / noun [ C or U ] (ANGER)
B2 (a period of) extreme or violent anger:
Her sudden towering rages were terrifying.
I was frightened because I had never seen him in such a rage before.
He flew into a fit of rage over the smallest mistake.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
rage
[re͟ɪʤ]
rages, raging, raged
1) N-VAR Rage is strong anger that is difficult to control.
He was red-cheeked with rage...
I flew into a rage...
He admitted shooting the man in a fit of rage.
Syn:
fury
2) VERB You say that something powerful or unpleasant rages when it continues with great force or violence.
Train services were halted as the fire raged for more than four hours.
...the fierce arguments raging over the future of the Holy City...
[V on] The war rages on and the time has come to take sides.
3) VERB If you rage about something, you speak or think very angrily about it.
[V about/against/at n] Monroe was on the phone, raging about her mistreatment by the brothers...
Inside, Frannie was raging...
[V with quote] `I can't see it's any of your business,' he raged.
4) N-UNCOUNT: n N You can refer to the strong anger that someone feels in a particular situation as a particular rage, especially when this results in violent or aggressive behaviour.
→ See also road rage
Cabin crews are reporting up to nine cases of air rage a week.
5) N-SING: the N When something is popular and fashionable, you can say that it is the rage or all the rage. [INFORMAL]
Badges are all the rage in France, Mr Toff explains.
6) → See also raging
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1rage /ˈreɪʤ/ noun, pl rag·es
1 a [noncount] : a strong feeling of anger that is difficult to control
• Her note to him was full of rage.
• He was shaking with rage.
• a fit of rage
- see also road rage synonyms see1anger
b [count] : a sudden expression of violent anger
• She was seized by a murderous rage.
• His rages rarely last more than a few minutes.
• He flew into a rage. [=he suddenly became extremely angry]
2 [singular]
a : something that is suddenly very popular
• Karaoke is (all) the rage these days. [=karaoke is very popular]
b : a strong desire by many people to have or do something - + for
• I don't understand the current rage for flavored coffee. [=I don't understand why flavored coffee is so popular]
