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outrage

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word outrage distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of outrage are affront, insult, and offend. While all these words mean "to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment," outrage implies offending beyond endurance and calling forth extreme feelings.

outraged by their accusations

When can affront be used instead of outrage?

While in some cases nearly identical to outrage, affront implies treating with deliberate rudeness or contemptuous indifference to courtesy.

deeply affronted by his callousness

In what contexts can insult take the place of outrage?

The words insult and outrage can be used in similar contexts, but insult suggests deliberately causing humiliation, hurt pride, or shame.

insulted every guest at the party

When is offend a more appropriate choice than outrage?

In some situations, the words offend and outrage are roughly equivalent. However, offend need not imply an intentional hurting but it may indicate merely a violation of the victim's sense of what is proper or fitting.

hoped that my remarks had not offended her

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of outrage
Noun
One was to voice outrage at the upsurge in policies and proposals nationwide that attack the advances of African Americans – many of which were secured in part through 1960s-era civil rights protests. Linn Washington, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2025 There are moments when the performers overplay the humor, suspense and moral outrage. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025
Verb
The news outraged many Palestinians, who saw it as giving Israel a green light to carry out what many viewed as an attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Maha Nassar, The Conversation, 6 Feb. 2025 Others, however, were outraged by the show of self-expression in the form of a sheer dress that left very little to the imagination. Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 5 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for outrage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outrage
Noun
  • During a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Brazil in November 2023, Messi and Rodrygo exchanged insults.
    Felipe Cardenas, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
  • The jury found that on Aug. 19, after Stanford revoked her access, Mangi logged into the study database and replaced patient medical data with erroneous information and insults about her former supervisor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
    Jason Green, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • If Jude’s previous two fiction films were Molotov cocktails of indignation, his latest secretes a kind of scentless poison that gets at the banality with which social injustices are processed and rationalized.
    Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
  • There was a pervasive sense of indignation from current and former European officials, who have funneled significant aid to Ukraine and are deeply worried about how a ceasefire deal could impact the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) eastern edge.
    Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 15 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Zoe Saldaña has issued an apology to Mexicans who were offended by the Emilia Pérez film.
    DeMicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Which would be the result soon enough if the paper treated the Letters column as some kind of exercise in PR, and excluded all opinions likely to offend somebody somewhere.
    arkansasonline.com, arkansasonline.com, 1 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The meeting angered Democrats, who were horrified by Trump and Vice President Vance's conduct.
    Andrew Solender, Axios, 28 Feb. 2025
  • The brand also angered left-leaning customers because of its conciliatory response to right-wing attacks.
    Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 28 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Melanie does that beautifully, unraveling through rage.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 28 Feb. 2025
  • His parents fought repeatedly, and his father often used his fists on him to take out his rage, according to The Associated Press.
    Stephanie Giang-Paunon, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • On Saturday, Hamas filmed two hostages who were forced to watch the release of others, turning to a camera and begging to be released, in yet another public spectacle that infuriated Israel.
    Joseph Krauss, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2025
  • And what answers can Howe belatedly unearth to arrest Newcastle’s infuriating inconsistency?
    Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Existing on cable news, hosting a celebrity-free show devoted to hot-button issues and cracking jokes with a withering sarcasm where his competitors are sunny or loopy, Gutfeld is an unlikely king of late night.
    Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 19 Feb. 2025
  • And that’s another important distinction from House where the empathy on House was much more buried under layers and layers of sarcasm.
    Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 26 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Then, in September, 1885, in Rock Springs, the fury spilled over.
    Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
  • The firings sparked an increase in posts to a Reddit channel for federal government workers, which urged those who were frustrated and recently laid off to refocus their fury and consider running for public office instead.
    Samantha-Jo Roth, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 3 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Outrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outrage. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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