anger

1 of 2

noun

an·​ger ˈaŋ-gər How to pronounce anger (audio)
plural angers
1
: 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
2
: 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 adjective

anger

2 of 2

verb

angered; angering ˈaŋ-g(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce anger (audio)

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

Examples of anger in a Sentence

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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The turnout will be the first test of his legacy and of the anger and momentum accumulating since his funeral — whether the desire to protest outweighs the fear of reprisal. Valerie Hopkins, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024 There’s an incredible attention to detail in the way that this sullen teen’s sense of his own body goes from natural awkwardness to something instinctual, how his feelings about what’s going on range from fear and anger to something like pride. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2024 Recommended The anger that has been simmering since the early days of the war, meanwhile, has only in recent weeks come to the surface. Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2024 In the series Savannah unleashes her anger at Joy and nearly kills her in a car crash. Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 14 Mar. 2024 Putin benefits heavily from apathy; most Russians have never witnessed a democratic transfer of power between rival political parties in a traditional presidential election, and expressions of anger at the Kremlin are rare enough to keep much of the population disengaged from politics. Rob Picheta, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024 Every year, the Academy leaves a few beloved names out of the montage, causing anger among some viewers. Pat Saperstein, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 Others were yelling in anger at the lack of care, according to a video recorded by her daughter. Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2024 Almost three decades before, Spike Lee’s similarly provocative Do the Right Thing articulated its own unsafe idea (riotous anger is warranted) so effectively that people feared the movie would incite violence. Kishori Rajan, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024
Verb
Both she and Moore are seasoned in dealing with criticism from those angered by their billboards, dating back to Fiorito’s first billboard on Grand Avenue. Madeline Nguyen, The Arizona Republic, 17 Mar. 2024 Along with the economy, Lamb said, nothing angers his constituents more than the sense of disorder at ports of entry and in communities where migrants enter the country. Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024 Johnson could anger Trump by distancing himself too much, or hand ammunition to the Democrats by distancing himself too little. David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024 His handling of the war has angered many progressives, and younger voters, who argue that the president isn't tough enough on the Israeli government. Deirdre Walsh, NPR, 8 Mar. 2024 Residents in Forest Hill angered by the firing of the city’s chief of police expressed frustrations to the city council at its meeting Tuesday night. James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Mar. 2024 The union said earlier this month it was angered by a company proposal that would close breweries and lay off workers. Dee-Ann Durbin, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 James Zogby, the founder of the Arab American Institute in Washington and a Democratic National Committee member since 1993, said Mr. Biden and the White House had no choice but to engage with those angered by the war in Gaza and to keep shifting the administration’s approach to the conflict. Nicholas Nehamas, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024 Scrolling through graphic images and growing death tolls on social media has only angered the gender-fluid artist more over the United States' role in aiding Israel. USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2024

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 *h2emǵh-es-/*h2emǵh-os- (whence Latin angor "suffocation, anguish," Sanskrit áṁhaḥ "anxiety, trouble," Avestan ązah-), derivatives of a verbal base *h2emǵh- "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 *h2emǵh- an adjective derivative *h2emǵh-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

Dictionary Entries Near anger

Cite this Entry

“Anger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anger. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

anger

1 of 2 noun
an·​ger ˈaŋ-gər How to pronounce anger (audio)
: a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of opposition toward someone or something

anger

2 of 2 verb
angered; angering
-g(ə-)riŋ
: to make angry

More from Merriam-Webster on anger

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