Language tip of the week: to become angry

In this weekly post, we bring more useful content from the Macmillan Dictionary to English language learners. In this series of language tips to accompany the Real Vocabulary theme we look at how you can expand your vocabulary in English by using different words and expressions instead of core vocabulary items.

This set of language tips will explore different ways to talk about emotions. This week’s tip looks at verbs and phrases you can use to talk about becoming angry.

get angry or get mad to become angry:
There’s no point in getting angry. ♦ He gets really mad if you touch his stuff.
lose your temper to suddenly become angry:
She never loses her temper with the children.

The following informal phrases all mean to become very angry, to the extent of losing control of yourself:
blow a fuse/a gasket:
He probably figured you would blow a gasket if you knew he hadn’t followed correct procedure.
blow your top/your stack:
Have you ever blown your stack by over-reacting to a situation?
go ballistic/bananas/berserk/nuts:
She went ballistic on me for no reason.
hit the roof:
When I told him I wasn’t going, he just about hit the roof.
lose it/lose your rag:
Don’t lose your rag or let others goad you.