anger

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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

Example Sentences

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

Advertisement Kilicdaroglu, during his campaign, had also seized on the anger against immigrants in Turkey, vowing to send Syrian refugees back to their country within two years. —

Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, 17 May 2023 What did some study matter in the face of the intangibles that enhanced their lives — a flash of insight, a new understanding of an irrational anger, a fresh recognition of another’s point of view? —

Susan Dominus, New York Times, 16 May 2023 As the campaign proceeded, Erdogan faced widespread anger over economic policies that have pummeled Turkish households and seen inflation rocket up to 80% last year. —

Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2023 Tkatchenko’s daughter, who accompanied him on the trip, has become a focal point for anger after posting a TikTok video discussing luxury shopping before boarding a flight in Singapore. —

Reuters, CNN, 13 May 2023 Dynamic pricing might be the new normal While disgruntled Tesla owners swarmed showrooms in China early this year over its price cuts, there haven’t been clear signs of sustained anger with the company on the part of consumers. —

Craig Trudell, Fortune, 13 May 2023 Specialties include addiction, anger management, anxiety, burnout, depression, emotion regulation, personal growth, and racial identity. —

Katherine Singh, refinery29.com, 11 May 2023 In the days since the bodies were discovered, Babb said she’s experienced an onslaught of emotions — guilt and anger, frustration and grief. —

Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 6 May 2023 Jordan Neely's death sparks protests, outrage Hundreds of people protested Neely's death in New York City this week, demanding criminal charges against Penny and expressing anger over the treatment of unhoused people, especially people of color and people experiencing mental health struggles. —

Christine Fernando, USA TODAY, 6 May 2023

Verb

Fresh off his fifth top-five finish of the season and a post-race dustup with Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain emerged as the points leader through 12 races while angering yet another driver. —

Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY, 14 May 2023 That angered some Democratic lawmakers, who said the reason the state was having trouble filling its child care slots is because there aren’t enough child care workers. —

Adam Beam, Fortune, 12 May 2023 The verdicts angered Japan, which has argued that all compensation issues were already settled when the two countries normalized ties in 1965. —

Hyung-jin Kim, BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2023 Republicans had opposed the credits as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden enacted last year, yet Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) joined four GOP lawmakers from corn-heavy Iowa to preserve the programs anyway - angering conservatives that had hoped to repeal the entire law. —

Tony Romm And Marianna Sotomayor, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Apr. 2023 Environmentalists were angered when Zambian authorities supported a huge open-pit mine for copper in Lower Zambezi National Park last year. —

Nimi Princewill, CNN, 26 Apr. 2023 Political will—the risk of angering drivers by giving up public roadways to public transit in particular—is often the biggest hurdle to implementing changes. —

Kendra Pierre-louis, Scientific American, 18 Apr. 2023 That year, NetEase invested in a game development company founded by a person who had until recently been a senior Activision employee, which also angered Activision, the people said. —

Chang Che, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023 Angel City was so angered by the call that three players — Haracic, Savannah McCaskill and Katie Johnson — drew yellow cards before Midge Purge calmly stepped up and converted her try. —

Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 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