boiling mad
1
4.8
- idiom
- Informal
- She was boiling mad after finding out that her project had been canceled without any notice.
Examples
-
A few weeks ago, a serious composer friend and I got boiling mad about it.
Academic text (2001) -
And made him boiling mad at us?
-
That made the Corinthians boiling mad.
Fiction book (2002) -
I, Hota Wata, am boiling mad, for you are all wet behind the ears.
-
Sally, boiling mad as her coiffure wilts in the Texas sun, stops and tosses down the file box in anger.
Fiction book (1993) -
He became boiling mad when his teammate blamed him for the loss in the final match.
-
The teacher was boiling mad when she discovered that several students had cheated on the exam.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling angry or upset with someone
631
8.4
Feeling very angry or annoyed
235
8.6
Very angry or annoyed
206
3.0
Very angry and ready to shout or complain
147
4.1
Feeling very angry and shocked because something seems unfair
82
3.9
Very strong and intense, often violent and out of control
46
4.1
Very angry and likely to act violently
28
7.9
Feeling angry or annoyed about something
22
5.3
Very angry and showing it
20
5.5
Very angry and hard to calm
19
6.2
Very angry because of something unfair or wrong
17
6.3
Feeling very angry or annoyed
11
4.5
Feeling very angry because someone treated you unfairly
6
2.5
Used before an adjective to show a very strong feeling
5
7.1
Very angry or annoyed because someone criticizes you
1
9.8
Very angry or upset
1
9.9
Very angry and acting without thinking
1
8.8
Very angry and unable to control your words or actions
1
9.9
Feeling extremely angry and acting wildly
1
9.9
Very angry and ready to do something extreme
1
9.5
Being very angry and hard to calm
Feeling very angry and showing it
Very angry and unable to stay calm
Feeling very angry and upset
Feeling very angry and upset
Antonyms
How Angry
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'extremely angry' is directly derivable from combining 'boiling' (intense heat / very strong) with 'mad' (angry): the first word functions as an intensifier of the emotional state. This is a common, cross-linguistic metaphorical pattern (e.g. 'boiling with anger') and follows regular adjective modification, so a B1 learner who knows both words is likely to understand the phrase.
Etymology
The idiom boiling mad comes from the picture of water that is boiling — bubbling and giving off steam — and of a person who is mad as if their anger is heating up. So, if someone is boiling mad, they are 'extremely angry'.