anger

1 of 2

noun

an·ger ˈaŋ-gər

plural angers

Synonyms of anger next

: 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

: 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

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The plight of the hostages has raised anger among some families that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to bring them home. —

Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 25 Nov. 2023 The plight of around 240 people taken captive during Hamas’ attack has been wrenching in Israel, raising anger among some families that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to bring them home. —

Najib Jobain, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Nov. 2023 Although anger is often a catalyst to create art, to be a woman — especially to be a woman of colour — is to be forced to suppress that anger, to stay quiet and calm in the face of injustice. —

Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 22 Nov. 2023 The play examines what happens when seething anger is turned inward, as well as the desire for reconciliation. —

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Nov. 2023 Combs was sentenced to a one-day anger management class. —

Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023 Despite the heavy rain, the group is here to direct their anger at the politicians, who are inside, deciding the future of Europe’s gig economy. —

WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023 Moreover, throughout their relationship, Combs displayed bouts of uncontrollable anger and consistently subjected Cassie to brutal beatings. —

Shelby Stewart, Essence, 16 Nov. 2023 With an election scheduled for March 10, the challenge for Costa's governing Socialists will be to hold onto votes amid the investigation, anger over housing, low wages and a previous pay controversy at state airline TAP SA. —

Joao Lima and Henrique Almeida Bloomberg News (tns), arkansasonline.com, 13 Nov. 2023

Verb

Concerned that Finland could one day become a target of Russian aggression, the country sought and in April obtained membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, becoming the 31st member of the military alliance, and in the process angering Moscow. —

Emma Bubola, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2023 The clash among delegates and protesters over the death and destruction in Israel and Gaza has angered young voters in particular. —

Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2023 Recent decisions have also angered users, with many criticizing the new app redesign to the point where Google had to backtrack and address feedback. —

Victoria Song, The Verge, 16 Nov. 2023 Beyond Murdoch’s poor deposition, Fox’s lawyers had angered the judge by hiding Murdoch’s role as Fox News’ executive chairman. —

Paolo Confino, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023 Members of the Anti-Occupation Bloc, peace activists who angered some other protesters by calling for Israel to pull out of the West Bank, have joined up. —

Steve Hendrix, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2023 Kennedy’s embrace of far-right talking points is expected to woo voters away from Trump—and that has angered previously friendly conservative news outlets. —

Tori Otten, The New Republic, 2 Nov. 2023 Gibson heard one explanation, a tale as old as the South: a Black boy said something to a white girl, which angered her boyfriend. —

Robert Samuels, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2023 In an effort to save the king salmon, whose numbers have been decimated by factors including warming waters, state regulators this year banned the use of fishing nets in the Kenai area—the latest in a series of restrictions that have angered local fishermen. —

Jim Carlton, WSJ, 29 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of anger was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century