anger

1 of 2

noun

an·​ger ˈaŋ-gər 

plural angers

1

: a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism (see antagonism sense 1b)

You could hear the anger in his voice.

She found it hard to control her anger.

His mind had teemed with a hundred hurts and angers.

—Irving Wallace

2

: a threatening or violent appearance or state : rage sense 2

the sea's anger

Suddenly it was swept by a strong gust of wind … . New thunder, new anger came rolling over their heads.

—Rita Madocs

angerless

ˈaŋ-gər-ləs 

adjective

anger

2 of 2

verb

angered; angering ˈaŋ-g(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

: to make (someone) angry

He was angered by the decision.

intransitive verb

: to become angry

a man who angers easily

Synonyms

Noun

• angriness
• birse [chiefly Scottish]
• choler
• furor
• fury
• indignation
• irateness
• ire
• lividity
• lividness
• mad
• madness
• mood [archaic]
• outrage
• rage
• spleen
• wrath
• wrathfulness

Verb

• enrage
• incense
• inflame
• enflame
• infuriate
• ire
• mad
• madden
• outrage
• rankle
• rile
• roil
• steam up
• tick off

Choose the Right Synonym for anger

anger, ire, rage, fury, indignation, wrath mean an intense emotional state induced by displeasure.

anger, the most general term, names the reaction but by itself does not convey cause or intensity.

tried to hide his anger

ire, more frequent in literary contexts, suggests an intense anger, often with an evident display of feeling.

cheeks flushed with ire

rage and fury suggest loss of self-control from violence of emotion.

shook with rage

could not contain his fury

indignation stresses righteous anger at what one considers unfair, mean, or shameful.

a comment that caused general indignation

wrath is likely to suggest a desire or intent to punish or get revenge.

I feared her wrath if I was discovered

Examples of anger in a Sentence

Noun

He couldn't hide his anger with us.

You could hear the anger in his voice.

The group expressed its anger over the company's arrogance.

He said that he had no anger towards the person who shot him.

He never raised his voice in anger.

She was shaking in anger.

Verb

They were shocked and angered by the company's arrogance.

He was angered to learn that he had been fired.

It angered me that she would say something like that.

He's a gentle man who's not easily angered.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The comments have been widely criticized by opposition leaders and prominent Muslim figures and triggered anger worldwide. —Armani Syed, TIME, 22 Apr. 2024

Her emotions during our conversation ranged from anger to anguish. —Detroit Free Press, 22 Apr. 2024

First, the anger over the security failures that led to the October attack has begun to be directed not only at Mr. Netanyahu but toward other political and military leaders as well, analysts said. —Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024

And in one more clip, Nina learns how to navigate her anger from missing a goal during her first soccer game. —Anna Halkidis, Parents, 19 Apr. 2024

But days later, that anger turned to sorrow upon learning Bryant had been found dead, alone in her room. —Ethan Varian, The Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2024

Of all our emotions, anger can be the most difficult to control. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024

Gupta, whose cherubic face belies an underlying intensity, vividly conveys Reena’s impotent teenage anger, while Goudry reveals the fragile spirit under Josephine’s wannabe-gangster bluster. —Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2024

Like someone crunching a roach, the owner put his foot down swiftly and with furious anger. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 14 Apr. 2024

Verb

Never disputed is the brilliance of this heartbreaking, mind-boggling, angering dramatic work. —William Norwich, Vogue, 22 Apr. 2024

The decision to support Ukraine at all has angered populist conservatives in the House and given new energy to a threat to remove him from the speaker's office. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 18 Apr. 2024

The unexpected decision angered Cynde’s family and led to an online petition calling for Beavers’ removal from the bench, which gathered more than 11,600 signatures at the time. —Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024

Berliner's essay also angered many of his colleagues and exposed NPR's new chief executive Katherine Maher to a string of attacks from conservatives over her past social media posts. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024

This position, however, has so far succeeded mostly in angering all sides. —Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024

By joking about this rumor on his show, the American host pushed it into the mainstream, a situation that angered many royal fans, as well as Hanbury herself. —Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2024

Some residents were angered by Kurenkov’s remarks that locals had ignored an order to evacuate a week ago. —Reuters, NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024

That angered DeSantis, who then worked with Republican lawmakers to pass a measure revoking Disney's self-governing status. —Greg Allen, NPR, 28 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English anger, angre "distress, affliction, hostile attitude, strong displeasure," borrowed from Old Norse angr "grief, vexation," going back to Germanic *angaza-, from an Indo-European s-stem *h₂emǵ^h-es-/*h₂emǵ^h-os- (whence Latin angor "suffocation, anguish," Sanskrit áṁhaḥ "anxiety, trouble," Avestan ązah-), derivatives of a verbal base *h₂emǵ^h- "constrict, narrow," whence Latin angō, angere "to choke, cause pain to, afflict, vex," Greek ánchō, ánchein "to squeeze, strangle," Hittite ḫamanki "(s/he) ties, binds"; also from the base *h₂emǵ^h- an adjective derivative *h₂emǵ^h-u- "narrow," whence Germanic *angu- (> *angwu-, angwja-, whence Old English enge "narrow," ange "distressing," Old Saxon & Old High German engi "narrow," Old High German ango "anxious," Old Norse ǫngr, øngr, Gothic aggwus), Old Irish cumung "narrow," Welsh cyfyng, Old Church Slavic ǫzŭkŭ, Polish wązki, Armenian anjuk (Slavic & Armenian with a velar suffix), Sanskrit aṁhúḥ

Note: For other words formed from this Indo-European base see etymologies of angst entry 1, anguish entry 1, anxious, hangnail, quinsy.

Verb

Middle English angren "to be anxious, grieve, be vexed, irritate, afflict," probably in part derivative of anger, angre anger entry 1, in part borrowed from Old Norse angra "to grieve, vex," derivative of angr "grief, vexation"

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Phrases Containing anger

• more in sorrow than in anger

Kids Definition

anger

1 of 2 noun

an·​ger ˈaŋ-gər 

: a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of opposition toward someone or something

anger

2 of 2 verb

angered; angering

-g(ə-)riŋ

: to make angry