Adjacent Words

Anger definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AN'GER, n. ang'ger. [L. ango, to choke strangle, vex; whence angor, vexation, anguish, the quinsy, angina. Gr. to strangle, to strain or draw together to vex. The primary sense is to press, squeeze, make narrow; Heb. to strangle.]
1. A violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury; usually accompanied with a propensity to take vengeance, or to obtain satisfaction from the offending party. This passion however varies in degrees of violence, and in ingenuous minds, may be attended only with a desire to reprove or chide the offender.
Anger is also excited by an injury offered to a relation, friend or party to which one is attached; and some degrees of it may be excited by cruelty, injustice or oppression offered to those with whom one has no immediate connection, or even to the community of which one is a member. Nor is it unusual to see something of this passion roused by gross absurdities in others, especially in controversy or discussion. Anger may be inflamed till it rises to rage and a temporary delirium.
2. Paint; smart of a sore or swelling; the literal sense of the word, but little used.
AN'GER, v.t. ang'ger.
1. To excite anger; to provoke; to rouse resentment.
2. To make painful; to cause to smart; to inflame; as, to anger an ulcer.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance [syn: anger, choler, ire]
2: the state of being angry [syn: anger, angriness]
3: belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong (personified as one of the deadly sins) [syn: wrath, anger, ire, ira] v
1: make angry; "The news angered him"
2: become angry; "He angers easily" [syn: anger, see red]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (angered; angering) Date: 13th century transitive verb to make angry <he was angered by the decision> intransitive verb to become angry II. noun Etymology: Middle English, affliction, anger, from Old Norse angr grief; akin to Old English enge narrow, Latin angere to strangle, Greek anchein Date: 14th century 1. a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism 2. rage 2 • angerless adjective Synonyms: anger, ire, rage, fury, indignation, wrath mean an intense emotional state induced by displeasure. anger the most general term, names the reaction but in itself conveys nothing about intensity or justification or manifestation of the emotional state <tried to hide his anger>. ire more frequent in literary contexts, may suggest greater intensity than anger, often with an evident display of feeling <cheeks flushed dark with ire>. rage suggests loss of self-control from violence of emotion <screaming with rage>. fury is overmastering destructive rage that can verge on madness <in her fury she accused everyone around her of betrayal>. indignation stresses righteous anger at what one considers unfair, mean, or shameful <a refusal to listen that caused general indignation>. wrath is likely to suggest a desire or intent to revenge or punish <rose in his wrath and struck his tormentor to the floor>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. extreme or passionate displeasure. --v.tr. make angry; enrage. Etymology: ME f. ON angr grief, angra vex

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anger An"ger, n. [OE. anger, angre, affliction, anger, fr. Icel. angr affliction, sorrow; akin to Dan. anger regret, Swed. [*a]nger regret, AS. ange oppressed, sad, L. angor a strangling, anguish, angere to strangle, Gr. ? to strangle, Skr. amhas pain, and to. anguish, anxious, quinsy, and perh. awe, ugly. The word seems to have orig. meant to choke, squeeze. ?.] 1. Trouble; vexation; also, physical pain or smart of a sore, etc. [Obs.] I made the experiment, setting the moxa where . . . the greatest anger and soreness still continued. --Temple. 2. A strong passion or emotion of displeasure or antagonism, excited by a real or supposed injury or insult to one's self or others, or by the intent to do such injury. Anger is like A full hot horse, who being allowed his way, Self-mettle tires him. --Shak. Syn: Resentment; wrath; rage; fury; passion; ire gall; choler; indignation; displeasure; vexation; grudge; spleen. Usage: Anger, Indignation, Resentment, Wrath, Ire, Rage, Fury. Anger is a feeling of keen displeasure (usually with a desire to punish) for what we regard as wrong toward ourselves or others. It may be excessive or misplaced, but is not necessarily criminal. Indignation is a generous outburst of anger in view of things which are indigna, or unworthy to be done, involving what is mean, cruel, flagitious, etc., in character or conduct. Resentment is often a moody feeling, leading one to brood over his supposed personal wrongs with a deep and lasting anger. See Resentment. Wrath and ire (the last poetical) express the feelings of one who is bitterly provoked. Rage is a vehement ebullition of anger; and fury is an excess of rage, amounting almost to madness. Warmth of constitution often gives rise to anger; a high sense of honor creates indignation at crime; a man of quick sensibilities is apt to cherish resentment; the wrath and ire of men are often connected with a haughty and vindictive spirit; rage and fury are distempers of the soul to be regarded only with abhorrence.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anger An"ger, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Angered; p. pr. & vb. n. Angering.] [Cf. Icel. angra.] 1. To make painful; to cause to smart; to inflame. [Obs.] He . . . angereth malign ulcers. --Bacon. 2. To excite to anger; to enrage; to provoke. Taxes and impositions . . . which rather angered than grieved the people. --Clarendon.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(angers, angering, angered) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Anger is the strong emotion that you feel when you think that someone has behaved in an unfair, cruel, or unacceptable way. He cried with anger and frustration... Ellen felt both despair and anger at her mother. = rage, fury N-UNCOUNT: oft N at n/-ing 2. If something angers you, it makes you feel angry. The decision to allow more offshore oil drilling angered some Californians. = enrage, infuriate VERB: V n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

the emotion of instant displeasure on account of something evil that presents itself to our view. In itself it is an original susceptibility of our nature, just as love is, and is not necessarily sinful. It may, however, become sinful when causeless, or excessive, or protracted (Matt. 5:22; Eph. 4:26; Col. 3:8). As ascribed to God, it merely denotes his displeasure with sin and with sinners (Ps. 7:11).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

an'-ger: In the Old Testament, the translation of several Hebrew words, especially of 'aph (lit. "nostril," "countenance"), which is used some 45 times of human, 177 times of Divine, anger (OHL). The word occurs rarely in the New Testament (Mr 3:5; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; Re 14:10), its place being taken by the word "wrath" (see WRATH). As a translation of words denoting God's "anger," the English word is unfortunate so far as it may seem to imply selfish, malicious or vindictive personal feeling. The anger of God is the response of His holiness to outbreaking sin. Particularly when it culminates in action is it rightly called Has "wrath." The Old Testament doctrine of God's anger is contained in many passages in the Pentateuch, Psalms and the Prophets. In Proverbs men are dissuaded from anger (Pr 15:1; 27:4), and the "slow to anger" is commended (Pr 15:18; 16:32; 19:11). Christians axe enjoined to put away the feeling of self-regarding, vindictive anger (Eph 4:31; Col 3:8), and to cherish no desire of personal revenge (Eph 4:26).

F. K. Farr

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Wrath, rage, fury, resentment, ire, indignation, exasperation, choler, gall, bile, spleen, dudgeon, passion, displeasure, vexation, irritation, offence, bad temper, ill temper, hot temper. See temper. II. v. a. Irritate, displease, offend, provoke, exasperate, rouse, chafe, gall, vex, nettle, incense, enrage, inflame, madden, infuriate, make angry.

Moby Thesaurus

a transient madness, acedia, affront, aggravate, angriness, annoy, annoyance, antagonism, ardency, ardor, arouse, asperity, avarice, avaritia, bad humor, bad temper, bile, biliousness, blow up, boil, boil over, bridle, bridle up, bristle, bristle up, burn, causticity, chafe, choler, corrosiveness, dander, deadly sin, discontent, displease, displeasure, dudgeon, dutch, eagerness, enrage, enragement, envy, exasperate, exasperation, excite, excitement, fervency, fervidity, fervidness, fervor, flare up, flip out, fret, fury, gall, get mad, get sore, gluttony, grapes of wrath, greed, gula, heat, hit the ceiling, huff, ill humor, ill nature, ill temper, incense, incite, indignation, inflame, infuriate, infuriation, invidia, ira, irateness, ire, irk, irritability, irritate, irritation, kindle, love, lust, luxuria, mad, madden, make angry, make mad, make sore, monkey, nettle, offend, outrage, pet, pique, pride, provoke, rage, rant, rave, reach boiling point, resentment, rile, saeva indignatio, see red, seethe, sexual desire, sloth, soreness, sourness, spleen, steam up, stew, storm, superbia, temper, tick off, umbrage, vex, vexation, vials of wrath, wrath, wrathfulness