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n. A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility. v. an·gered, an·ger·ing, an·gers v.tr. To make angry; enrage or provoke. v.intr. To become angry: She angers too quickly. [Middle English, from Old Norse angr, sorrow; see angh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: anger, rage, fury, ire, wrath, resentment, indignation These nouns denote varying degrees of marked displeasure. Anger, the most general, is strong and often heated displeasure: shook her fist in anger; retorted in anger at the insult; tried to suppress his anger over the treatment he had received. Rage and fury imply intense, explosive, often destructive emotion: smashed the glass in a fit of rage; lashed out in fury at the lies her opponent had spread. Ire is a term for anger most frequently encountered in literature: "The best way to escape His ire / Is, not to seem too happy" (Robert Browning). Wrath applies especially to a powerful anger that seeks vengeance or punishment: "[He] was arrested and was spared the awful wrath of my pistol-whipping uncles" (Maya Angelou). Resentment refers to indignant smoldering anger generated by a sense of grievance: deep resentment among the workers that eventually led to a strike. Indignation is righteous anger at something wrongful, unjust, or evil: "public indignation about takeovers causing people to lose their jobs" (Allan Sloan). |
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