Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Enrage for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is enrage — a verb, pronounced in-RAYJ, written /ɪnˈreɪdʒ/.
Narrator: To enrage someone is to make them not just annoyed, not just cross, but extremely angry — pushed into open fury.
Narrator: It comes from the Old French enrager, built from en-, meaning to put into, and rage, from the Latin rabies — madness, frenzy, fury.
Narrator: So at its root, to enrage someone is to put them into a state of madness.
Narrator: The word entered English in the fifteenth century with that same intense colouring, and it has never softened.
Narrator: Modern usage keeps the heat. Headlines speak of policies that enrage voters, scenes that enrage parents, decisions that enrage entire industries.
Narrator: Its register sits at the strong end of the anger scale — well past irritate, well past annoy, well past anger itself. It is often used in the passive — to be enraged by something — which puts the cause squarely in the spotlight.
Narrator: Remember it like this — to enrage someone is to strike the match they did not even know they were carrying.
Speaker A: Did you see the news this morning? That council decision to close the local pool has absolutely enraged the residents.
Speaker B: Enraged is exactly the right word. Not annoyed, not upset — properly furious. Petitions are flying around already.
Speaker A: I think the bit that really enraged people was the timing — announced two days before the summer holidays.
Speaker B: Yes, and notice how natural the passive feels — people are enraged by something. The thing that enraged them takes centre stage.
Speaker A: Right. Would you ever use enrage for something small?
Speaker B: Not really. If someone steals your parking space, you're annoyed, maybe livid. Save enrage for things that touch a deeper nerve — injustice, betrayal, loss.
Speaker A: So what's the difference between enrage and infuriate?
Speaker B: They're very close, almost interchangeable. Infuriate is perhaps a touch more personal — a colleague infuriates you. Enrage often suggests a wider audience — a policy enrages a community.
Speaker A: And anger as a verb?
Speaker B: Anger is the milder, more general option. To anger someone is to make them cross. To enrage them is to set them on fire.
Speaker A: Got it. Any common mistake?
Speaker B: Yes — people overuse it. If you say everything enrages you, the word stops meaning anything. Reserve it for moments that genuinely earn it.
Speaker A: So — the decision to cut night buses has enraged shift workers across the city.
Speaker B: Perfect — a real grievance, a clear cause, and exactly the right intensity.
Enrage — meaning in Arabic & definition More E courses GL Dictionary