rage

[reyj]

noun

1. angry fury; violent anger (sometimes used in combination).

   a speech full of rage;

   incidents of road rage.

   Synonyms: madness, ire, passion, frenzy, wrath
   Antonyms: calm

2. a fit of violent anger.

   Her rages usually don't last too long.

3. fury or violence of wind, waves, fire, disease, etc.

   Synonyms: turbulence

4. violence of feeling, desire, or appetite.

   the rage of thirst.

5. a violent desire or passion.

6. ardor; fervor; enthusiasm.

   poetic rage.

   Synonyms: vehemence, eagerness

7. the object of widespread enthusiasm, as for being popular or fashionable.

   Raccoon coats were the rage on campus.

   Synonyms: craze, fashion, fad, vogue

8. Archaic.,  insanity.

verb (used without object)

raged, raging 

1. to act or speak with fury; show or feel violent anger; fulminate.

   Synonyms: storm, fume, rave

2. to move, rush, dash, or surge furiously.

   Synonyms: storm, fume, rave

3. to proceed, continue, or prevail with great violence.

   The battle raged ten days.

4. (of feelings, opinions, etc.) to hold sway with unabated violence.

rage

/ reɪdʒ /

noun

1. intense anger; fury

2. violent movement or action, esp of the sea, wind, etc

3. great intensity of hunger, sexual desire, or other feelings

4. aggressive behaviour associated with a specified environment or activity

   road rage

   school rage

5. a fashion or craze (esp in the phrase all the rage )

6. informal,  a dance or party

verb

1. to feel or exhibit intense anger

2. (esp of storms, fires, etc) to move or surge with great violence

3. (esp of a disease or epidemic) to spread rapidly and uncontrollably

4. informal,  to have a good time

Other Word Forms

• rageful adjective
• ragingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of rage¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin rabia, Latin rabiēs “madness” ( rabies ( def. ) ), derivative of rabere “to be mad, rave”; verb derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of rage¹

C13: via Old French from Latin rabiēs madness

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. all the rage, widely popular or in style.

see all the rage.

Synonym Study

See anger.

Example Sentences

That rage grew when she learned the sunscreen she had been using for years was unreliable and, according to some tests, offered next to no sun protection at all.

From BBC

When her mother raged at her in public, she recalls, she "swirled like water down a sink and disappeared".

From BBC

She claims to have a nose for news while ignoring a fire raging in a nearby building that’s plainly visible from her vantage point.

From Salon

More than three and a half years later the war rages on.

From BBC

As Timothy, an old acting school buddy of the Clooney-esque Kelly, Crudup brings a mercurial intensity to a pivotal early scene that begins with warmth and ends in rage.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• animosity 
• bitterness 
• exasperation 
• excitement 
• frenzy 
• furor 
• fury 
• indignation 
• irritation 
• madness 
• mania 
• obsession 
• outburst 
• passion 
• resentment 
• temper 
• violence