road rage

noun

: a motorist's uncontrolled anger that is usually triggered by an action of another motorist and that is expressed in aggressive or violent behavior

From punching cars to shooting drivers, road rage … takes many forms.

—Natalie La Roche Pietri

Drivers reported experiencing road rage most frequently on city streets (29.18%), on freeways or highways (26.59%) and in parking lots (14.9%).

—Ashlee Tilford

—often used before another noun

a road rage incident

An apparent road rage shooting left one person wounded …

—Anna Spoerre

road rager

ˈrōd-ˌrā-jər 

noun

plural road ragers

Other drivers may have similar feelings or thoughts, but only the road rager responds with dangerous behavior: tailgating, pulling right in front of you at high speeds, running you off the road, refusing to let you into traffic, and so on.

—Michael Karson

Examples of road rage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Victoria Moorwood On a summer day in 2024, a fatal road rage shooting changed multiple lives forever. — Victoria Moorwood, Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Aug. 2026

From a Rocklin road rage sentencing to new University of California admissions data, Sacramento-area readers had a lot to digest this week. — Ruyuan Li. Story Produced With Ai Assistance, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026

The events leading to the discovery of the suspect’s arsenal began on July 15 in the city of Redlands when the California Highway Patrol responded to a report of a road rage incident on Interstate 10 near Live Oak Canyon Road, according to the CHP. — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026

The shooting occurred in the area of Interstate 30 and Summit Avenue, police said, and appears to be a road rage incident. — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for road rage

• assuage
• backstage
• bocage
• downstage
• engage
• enrage
• leafage
• messuage
• offstage
• onstage
• outrage
• pelage