road rage

noun

: a motorist's uncontrolled anger that is usually triggered by an action of another motorist and that is expressed in aggressive or violent behavior

From punching cars to shooting drivers, road rage … takes many forms.

—Natalie La Roche Pietri

Drivers reported experiencing road rage most frequently on city streets (29.18%), on freeways or highways (26.59%) and in parking lots (14.9%).

—Ashlee Tilford

—often used before another noun

a road rage incident

An apparent road rage shooting left one person wounded …

—Anna Spoerre

road rager

ˈrōd-ˌrā-jər 

noun

plural road ragers

Other drivers may have similar feelings or thoughts, but only the road rager responds with dangerous behavior: tailgating, pulling right in front of you at high speeds, running you off the road, refusing to let you into traffic, and so on.

—Michael Karson

Examples of road rage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tennessee authorities are searching for a man who was captured on video Saturday attacking a car with an ax during an alleged road rage incident in Memphis. —Alexandra Koch, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2025

Two suspects are in the hospital after a crash following an alleged road rage incident with gunfire in Prairie Village Tuesday, police said. —Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 26 Feb. 2025

Listen to this article A Crown Point man got two years probation Thursday for a February 2023 road rage incident in Griffith. —Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2025

Listen to this article A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly displaying a firearm during a road rage incident on the Merritt Parkway in Stratford. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 15 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for road rage

• assuage
• backstage
• bocage
• downstage
• engage
• enrage
• leafage
• messuage
• offstage
• onstage
• outrage
• pelage