The angry, bitter man had enough of the little dog’s barking. He was furious and went to confront the dog’s owner. The owner took offense at the complaints directed at her precious pet and became hot under the collar. She told the fuming man that she was tired of his irascible temper and his constant raging. These accusations only infuriated the man further, and convulsed with rage, he stormed off to call the dogcatcher.
After starting out the first installment of the English Vocabulary Builder with the word “happy,” it is time to go to the opposite extreme. Today’s featured words take a look at “anger” and other related terms. This intense emotion is a normal and everyone will experience it to various degrees throughout the course of a lifetime. The American Psychological Association offers helpful guidelines in dealing with anger should it become too much.
In the meantime, the following definitions can be found in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary:
anger – a strong feeling of displeasure
angry – feeling or showing anger
rage – violent and uncontrolled anger
raging – causing great pain or distress
enrage – to fill with rage, anger
fury – intense, disordered, destructive rage
furious – exhibiting or goaded by anger
infuriate – to make furiously angry
indignation – anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean
irate – arising from anger
irascible – to become or be angry, marked by a hot temper
fiery – easily provoked or irritable
offend – to cause dislike, anger, or vexation
incense – to arouse extreme anger or indignation
inflame – to cause to redden or grow hot from anger
madden – to make intensely angry
rankle – to cause or feel anger, irritation, or deep bitterness
cross – marked by transitory bad temper, grumpy
vex – to bring trouble, distress or agitation to
fume – a state of irritation, or anger
rabid – extremely violent or furious
savage – to attack or treat brutally
Phrases and words used to indicate anger:
take offense
hot blooded
fuming
hot under the collar
convulsed with rage
blind with rage
storm off – to walk away in anger
These slang words and phrases are commonly used in American English to indicate when one feels angry:
pisses off, pissed off – When she takes my keys without asking, it really pisses me off.
mad – Jerry shouldn’t get so mad when that happens.
tee’d – Taina was tee’d when she wasn’t invited to the concert.
torqued – Chen became torqued when he discovered his bike stolen.
heated – Heated over the reduction in pay, Paul quit his job.
Written by Marlene Martzke for English Classes by Skype