in a towering rage

in a towering rage

Extremely, viciously angry. I'd steer clear of the boss right now—he's in a towering rage over that shipping error. Dad was in a towering rage because of what happened. I've never seen him that angry before! The movie definitely leans into the usual tropes—like the hero being in a towering rage after the devastating death of a loved one.

See also: rage, towering

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

towering rage, in a

Extremely angry. Towering has been used in the sense of rising to a pitch of violence or intensity since Shakespeare’s time. Shakespeare wrote, “The brauery of his griefe did put me into a towring passion” (Hamlet, 5.2). The precise modern locution appeared in William Black’s Green Pastures and Piccadilly (1877), “He came down in a towering rage.” It may now be obsolescent.

See also: towering

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer