infuriate meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

infuriate

verb

UK /ɪnˈfjʊəɹieɪt/ · /ɪnˈfjʊəɹɪət/

Etymology First attested in 1667; borrowed from Medieval Latin infuriātus (“enraged”), perfect passive participle of infuriō (“to enrage”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin furia (“rage, fury, frenzy”); perhaps via Italian infuriato.

To make furious or mad with anger; to fill with fury.

What graceles fears, strange hates, may Nations so affright, Infuriate so; gainst God with mad attempts to fight?1615, Edwin Sandys, “Psalm 2”, in Sacred Hymns, Consisting of fifti select psalms of David and others, paraphrastically turned into English verse, London, page 2:
1796, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Prospect of a Regicide Peace, London: J. Owen, Letter 2, p. 105, They tore the deputation of the Clergy to pieces by their infuriated declamations and invectives, before they lacerated their bodies by their massacres.

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He bent over Oliver, and repeated the inquiry; but finding him really incapable of understanding the question; and knowing that his not replying would only infuriate the magistrate the more, and add to the severity of his sentence; he hazarded a guess.1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “11”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
I had […] no notion that the working class were human beings.[…] I could agonise over their sufferings, but I still hated them and despised them when I came anywhere near them. I was still revolted by their accents and infuriated by their habitual rudeness.1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, Penguin, published 1962, Part 2, Chapter 9, p. 131:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan after a one-day visit that has infuriated China.2022 August 3, Zaheena Rasheed, “Pelosi in Taiwan live news: Tsai slams ‘unnecessary’ China drills”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2022:

Derived terms: infuriable, infuriated, infuriating, infuriation, infuriator

infuriate

adj

Archaic Filled with, characterized by or expressing fury.

These [materials] in thir dark Nativitie the Deep Shall yeild us, pregnant with infernal flame, Which into hallow Engins long and round Thick-rammd, at th’ other bore with touch of fire Dilated and infuriate shall send forth From far with thundring noise among our foes Such implements of mischief as shall dash To pieces, and orewhelm whatever stands Adverse,1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 482-490:
[…] the steady tyrant man, Who with the thoughtless insolence of power Inflam’d, beyond the most infuriate rage Of the worst monster that e'er howl'd the waste, For sport alone takes up the cruel tract,a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 26, lines 392-396:

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[…] she housed and sheltered Mrs. Posky, who fled from her bungalow one night, pursued by her infuriate husband, wielding his second brandy bottle […]1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 32, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
With an infuriate scream the dead awakened.1929, Thomas Wolfe, chapter 20, in Look Homeward, Angel, New York: Modern Library, page 280:
Until Peyton was born, bleak doubt assailed him. He looked at his wife’s body with suspicion and his own with infuriate guilt.1951, William Styron, chapter 2, in Lie Down in Darkness, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, page 51:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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Conjugation of “infuriate”, all tenses