Most of the work with angry is choosing a strength. Annoyed and cross sit near the bottom, mad is the everyday American middle, and furious or livid are for rage anyone could see across a room. Weather and wounds take their own words, because no feeling is involved at all: a sea is raging, a cut is inflamed.
Best synonyms for angry
Feeling or showing anger
- mad
- annoyed
- irritated
- cross
- irate
- furious
- livid
- enraged
- incensed
- indignant
- outraged
- sore
- huffy
- wrathful
- fuming
- seething
Violent weather or water
- stormy
- raging
- tempestuous
- wild
Red, sore skin
- inflamed
- swollen
Which synonym should you use?
| If you mean… | Best alternatives |
|---|---|
| Mildly bothered by something petty | annoyed, irritated, cross |
| Casual, everyday anger in American speech | mad, sore |
| Rage that shows or nearly boils over | furious, livid, enraged |
| Angry because something is unfair | indignant, outraged, incensed |
| Anger kept quiet and held in | seething, fuming |
| A customer or caller complaining loudly | irate, indignant |
| A violent sea, wind or sky | raging, stormy, tempestuous |
| A red, painful cut or rash | inflamed, swollen |
Angry synonyms explained
1. Mad
The ordinary American word for angry, and it is informal. It runs hotter than annoyed and cooler than furious. Because mad can also mean crazy, as in mad scientist, let the context make clear that you mean angry.
Best used when: Talking casually about a friend, a sibling or a spouse who is upset with you.
My sister is still mad that I borrowed her car without asking.
2. Annoyed
Mild irritation, usually over something small or repeated. It stops well short of anger, so use it when angry would overstate things. Irritated is nearly the same, with a more nagging, worn-down feel.
Best used when: A delay, a noise or a careless mistake bothers you but doesn't enrage you.
I was annoyed that the meeting started twenty minutes late.
3. Cross
Mildly angry, in the way a parent or teacher is when told the same thing twice. It sounds a little dated in the US and is more at home in British speech. It usually takes with before a person and is gentler than mad.
Best used when: Describing a short-lived, mild scolding mood, especially toward children.
Dad was cross with us for tracking mud across the kitchen floor.
4. Furious
Anger at full heat, usually visible in the voice or behavior, a clear step above mad. It works before a noun (a furious customer) as easily as after a verb, and takes with or at for the person the anger is aimed at.
Best used when: Someone has been badly wronged and is not hiding how they feel.
Correct: He was furious with the contractor.
Incorrect: He was furious on the contractor.
Not furious on: use furious with for a person, or furious at or about for a situation, as in the first sentence or He was furious about the delay. The target of anger is never marked with on.
5. Livid
Extremely angry, about as strong as furious but more conversational: it is the word people reach for when retelling what made them see red. It mostly follows a verb like be or look and is less common than furious before a noun.
Best used when: Telling someone how you or another person reacted to a specific thing that went wrong.
He was livid when he saw the dent in his new truck.
6. Indignant
Angry because you feel treated unfairly or insulted, so it carries a sense of being wronged. Outraged is stronger and points at something morally shocking, while indignant can be about a slight. It takes at or about.
Best used when: Someone objects to an insult, a false accusation or poor treatment.
She was indignant at being asked to show her ticket a third time.
7. Outraged
Shocked as well as angry, at something you think is wrong or unacceptable. It is stronger than indignant and is often used of groups, readers or the public. It takes by, at or over for the cause.
Best used when: A decision or act seems unjust or shameful to many people.
Residents were outraged by the decision to close the library.
8. Irate
Very angry in a way that comes out as complaint, common for customers, drivers and callers. It sounds a bit formal and is typical of news and service writing. It is usually applied to others rather than to yourself, unlike mad.
Best used when: Reporting that a customer or caller is loudly and openly angry.
An irate caller demanded to speak to the manager.
9. Seething
Angry on the inside, with little or nothing said. Where furious shows, seething describes a person who is silent or stiff but boiling. It usually comes after the verb, as in sat there seething, and takes with for the feeling: seething with resentment.
Best used when: Someone hides rage during a meal, a meeting or a family argument.
He sat through the whole dinner seething, saying nothing.
10. Sore
Still resentful over a slight, a loss or an unfair outcome. It is informal and chiefly American, a little wounded rather than explosive, and milder than mad. It needs context, because sore also means physically painful. It takes at or about.
Best used when: Someone keeps brooding about losing a promotion or being left out.
He's still sore about losing the promotion to his friend.
11. Wrathful
Full of wrath, a heavy, old-fashioned word suited to gods, kings and vengeance on a grand scale. It is far more formal than furious and sounds out of place in everyday speech or business writing.
Best used when: Writing fantasy, historical fiction or deliberately grand prose about divine or royal anger.
The villagers feared the wrathful god of the mountain.
12. Raging
In this meaning, raging describes water, wind or fire that is violent and out of control. It is stronger than stormy, which can mean merely rough or unsettled. Tempestuous is the literary choice and also fits turbulent relationships.
Best used when: Writing about surf, rivers, blizzards or fires that are out of control.
Rescuers couldn't launch the boat into the raging surf.
13. Inflamed
Red, swollen and painful from irritation or infection. This is what writers mean by an angry red cut or rash. Swollen only describes size, not redness or heat.
Best used when: Describing a wound, joint or throat that looks red and hurts.
The cut looked inflamed, so she called the doctor.
FAQ
Is it angry at, angry with, or angry about?
Use angry with or angry at before a person, and angry at or angry about before a situation or event. Not angry on: on does not mark what the anger is aimed at in English.
What is a formal word for angry in a complaint?
Indignant states a grievance and outraged is stronger. Irate is more often used by a writer describing someone else's anger than for the writer's own.