rage

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: violent and uncontrolled anger
b
: a fit of violent wrath
c
archaic : insanity
2
: violent action (as of wind or sea)
3
: an intense feeling : passion
4
: a fad pursued with intense enthusiasm
was all the rage

rage

2 of 2

verb

raged; raging

intransitive verb

1
: to be in a rage
2
: to be in tumult
3
: to prevail uncontrollably
Choose the Right Synonym for rage

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

fashion, style, mode, vogue, fad, rage, craze mean the usage accepted by those who want to be up-to-date.

fashion is the most general term and applies to any way of dressing, behaving, writing, or performing that is favored at any one time or place.

the current fashion

style often implies a distinctive fashion adopted by people of taste.

a media baron used to traveling in style

mode suggests the fashion of the moment among those anxious to appear elegant and sophisticated.

slim bodies are the mode at this resort

vogue stresses the wide acceptance of a fashion.

short skirts are back in vogue

fad suggests caprice in taking up or in dropping a fashion.

last year's fad is over

rage and craze stress intense enthusiasm in adopting a fad.

Cajun food was the rage nearly everywhere for a time
crossword puzzles once seemed just a passing craze but have lasted

Examples of rage in a Sentence

Noun Her note to him was full of rage. He was shaking with rage. She was seized by a murderous rage. His rages rarely last more than a few minutes. Verb She raged about the injustice of their decision. The manager raged at the umpire. A storm was raging outside, but we were warm and comfortable indoors. The fire raged for hours.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Electric cars are all the rage—but people haven’t been buying quite as many of them as auto companies like Tesla had hoped, especially in recent months. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 4 Mar. 2024 Yet the mood in 2024 is far different than the early 2020s when risk-on, transformative deals were all the rage. Marc Cooper, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Related Video A Day in the Life of Hermès’s Leather Goods Creative Director Top-handle bags are all the rage. Alexis Bennett Parker, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2024 The women had suffered lithium poisoning while working at battery factories and began to break into fits of destructive rage during their shifts. Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2024 The answer will vary from viewer to viewer, but to these eyes Villeneuve enters into what could have been toxic with a conscious, scene-by-scene sense of fatalism, Chalamet stirring his character’s rise with notes of rage, guilt, unhappiness and imposter syndrome. Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024 With its potent mix of songs, the show, which later included a countdown, became a rage across the region. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024 There was a point in my high school career, smack dab in the middle of the 2010s—the dog days of the Indie Sleaze Era—where a certain pair of boots became all the rage. Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2024 Nothing seemed to rattle him in a sport that is known for rage and aggression at high speeds from some drivers. Bruce Martin, Forbes, 17 Feb. 2024
Verb
The debate over corporate disclosure is raging even as the economic toll of warming climbs. Maxine Joselow, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 Texas is still coping with the record-setting Smokehouse Creek Fire which has burned more than 1 million acres, while parts of Northern California were buried this weekend under a raging blizzard. Aj Willingham, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 Numerous other fires are also raging in the Panhandle, the Amarillo Globe-News reported. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024 By Mary Gilbert and Joe Sutton | CNN A massive blaze that’s raging out of control is threatening Texas Panhandle towns and forcing residents to evacuate. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024 The appeal, and three others filed by Russian interests over the results, ensured that a controversy that had already raged for almost two years will now be extended — complicating the awarding of the medals to any skaters until it is finally resolved. Tariq Panja, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2024 The mainstream media is working really hard right now to paint Kelly Rowland as a raging diva. Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 23 Feb. 2024 As inflation rages on and costs rise, benefits leaders must do everything in their power to keep costs manageable at the individual level. Ari Hoffman, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 To stimulate flagging consumer confidence, Elon Musk lit a fuse at the start of last year that would spark a broader price war conflagration across the Chinese EV industry—one that has now been raging for months. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 20 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rage.' 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, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin rabia, from Latin rabies rage, madness, from rabere to be mad; akin to Sanskrit rabhas violence

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rage was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near rage

Cite this Entry

“Rage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rage. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rage

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: very strong and uncontrolled anger
b
: a fit of violent anger
2
: violent action (as of wind or sea)
3
: fad
the current rage

rage

2 of 2 verb
raged; raging
1
: to be in a rage
2
: to continue out of control
the fire raged for hours

Medical Definition

rage

noun
: violent and uncontrolled anger

More from Merriam-Webster on rage

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