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

Police said the crash stemmed from a prior road rage incident involving the BMW driver and the victim’s adult son. —Samantha Moilanen, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025

Denny Hamlin has opened up about a road rage incident following the Homestead-Miami NASCAR Cup Series race, where a car from Richard Childress Racing (RCR) swerved into a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) vehicle after JGR lost its police escort. —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025

One person was shot and another is facing charges following a road rage incident on Interstate 91 in Windsor on Tuesday. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2025

California police are investigating an apparent road rage incident after a man allegedly stabbed another driver in self-defense after being attacked in a popular coffee chain's parking lot over the weekend. —Julia Bonavita, Fox News, 24 Mar. 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