anger

Formsangers, angering, angered

1. 1
   ragenoununcountable

   A strong, unpleasant feeling of displeasure or hostility toward someone or something, often arising from a perceived insult, threat, or unfair treatment.

   Like a kettle building up pressure until it finally whistles.

   The decision provoked widespread anger among local residents.

   He struggled to keep his anger in check during the argument.

   UsageSay anger at or over something and anger toward someone; people vent their anger or keep it in check.

   Similarrage, fury, outrage, indignation, temper

   Oppositecalm, pleasure

   Note

   The word began as distress rather than rage. Middle English anger covered grief, pain, trouble and sorrow as well as wrath, from Old Norse angr, 'affliction, sorrow', and ultimately from a root meaning 'narrow, tied together'. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Anger originated in a word for distress or sorrow; Middle English anger included grief, pain, trouble, sorrow and wrath. en.wiktionary.org
   • Middle English anger was borrowed from Old Norse angr, meaning affliction or sorrow. en.wiktionary.org
   • The word ultimately derives from a reconstructed root glossed as narrow or tied together. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To make someone feel strong displeasure or hostility; less often, to become angry.

   Like striking a match against dry tinder.

   Such repeated delays anger customers who expect quick service.

   The verdict angered the victim's family.

   UsageOften in the passive: people are angered by a decision or a delay.

   Similarinfuriate, enrage, incense, outrage

   Oppositeplease, calm, pacify, placate

   Note

   News prose likes it in a participle clause that tallies reactions, as when Tami Luhby and colleagues wrote in 2025 of an offer 'angering some, confusing many'. John Payne's 1911 Heine translation even gives it the archaic form angeredst. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Tami Luhby and colleagues used the quoted wording about an offer in a 2025 news article. en.wiktionary.org
   • John Payne's translation of Heinrich Heine contains the form angeredst. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   nounobsoleteuncountable

   A sensation of physical pain or stinging.

   Note

   Here anger is a bodily smart, closer to the word's roots in affliction than the emotional meaning that outlasted it. Simon Patrick in 1660 writes of taking away 'the Anger of the Sore', and William Temple, in his essay on curing gout, describes the 'Anger and Soreness' lingering in a gouty toe. It keeps company with sores and soreness.

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