Enrages

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To stimulate feelings of fury or intense displeasure in another person
2. To evoke strong feelings of anger or resentment in an individual
3. To make someone feel a powerful surge of anger or indignation

Etymology: "Enrages" is the third-person singular present form of "enrage," so it traces back to the verb itself. That verb came into English from Old French "enragier," meaning to make mad or to become rabid, built from "rage" with the prefix "en-," which turns a noun into a verb meaning "to put into" or "to cause to be" the thing named. To enrage someone, in other words, is to put them into a state of rage. The noun "rage" is the older part of the picture. It shares its roots with words for fury and madness in Romance languages, and its sense of raging wild animal behavior is preserved in the older verb form. The prefix did most of the work in making the verb, so the word is a straightforward combination of two parts already present in French.

Synonyms: infuriates, incenses, irritates, annoys, provokes

Antonyms: calms, soothes, pacifies