furor

noun

fu·​ror ˈfyu̇r-ˌȯr 

-ər

1

: an angry or maniacal fit : rage

furor of the god of war

—Henry Fuseli

2

: fury sense 4

3

: a fashionable craze : vogue

her singing … made her the furor of Paris overnight

—Janet Flanner

4

a

: furious or hectic activity

confusion and furor within the Pentagon over research and development spending

—T. M. Bernstein

b

: an outburst of public excitement or indignation : uproar

Amid the furor, the senator continues to deny the allegations.

Synonyms

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of furor in a Sentence

The book caused a furor across the country.

Amid a public furor, the senator continues to deny the allegations.

Recent Examples on the Web

By the time Taylor-Johnson came aboard with her husband in the lead role, Frey had long since apologized and the literary furor had died down, but so had most of the interest in the film, which received a modest independent release and middling reviews. —Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024

The furor underlines the polarizing impact of attempts by legislators around the world to find a balance. —Leo Sands, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024

The furor lives on, primarily in the political space. —Michael Rothfeld Emily Woo Zeller Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024

As the furor grew, anxious Americans tuned in to what their children were learning. —TIME, 8 Apr. 2024

His death, along with the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police in 2020, ignited furor over the shooting deaths of Black people and sparked international protests against racial injustice. —Blayne Alexander, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024

What triggered the furor was UC’s decision to reverse the university’s approval of three high school data science courses to substitute for algebra 2. —Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024

The middle quartets, created amid the avant-garde furor of the nineteen-twenties, border on raw noise. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

This American snub, and others like it, caused an international furor. —Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin, from furere to rage

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

furor

noun

fu·​ror ˈfyu̇r-ˌȯr 

-ˌōr

1

: fury sense 1, rage

2

: an outburst of excitement : uproar