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

Chris Pelkey, 37, was fatally shot in November 2021 during a road rage incident in Chandler, Arizona. —Saleen Martin, USA Today, 10 May 2025

The pair had allegedly gotten into a road rage incident that led to the shooting, according to Arizona station ABC15. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 8 May 2025

Pelkey was shot and killed in 2021 in a road rage incident. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 7 May 2025

Chris Pelkey, 37, was an Army veteran and avid fisherman killed in an alleged road rage incident on Nov. 13, 2021. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 May 2025

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