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Glite Dictionary
to froth at the mouth

to froth at the mouth

7 8.6
To be extremely angry and unable to control oneself
  • idiom
  • Informal
: estar furioso
  • The crowd started frothing at the mouth when their favorite team lost.
  • people froth at the mouth
  • a man frothing at the mouth

And nobody in that is is, you know, frothing at the mouth and screaming and shouting.

Examples

  • During the heated debate, many participants were frothing at the mouth with anger.

  • Sam, they are frothing at the mouth.

    The Wild (2006)

  • All of this frothing at the mouth shows how angry people are today.

    Blog text (26)

  • Not all Republicans are stupid, but the ones who hate Obama so much they froth at the mouth pretty much are.

    Blog text (12)

  • If you're really frothing at the mouth over this, try this solution:

    Blog text (6)

  • Many heard her screaming but were too afraid to say anything to Fripp, who was frothing at the mouth with rage over his stolen cotton.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • But it still doesn't make sense that people go absolutely nuts over it and start frothing at the mouth when someone doesn't agree with them.

    Blog text (22)

  • He was frothing at the mouth in frustration after being ignored repeatedly.

Synonyms

to blow up
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
66 4.7

To suddenly become very angry and lose control

is more extreme and uncontrolled than a sudden angry outburst
to rage
vsto froth at the mouth
48 4.8

To feel very angry and unable to control it

is extreme anger stressing loss of control rather than violence itself
to fume
vsto froth at the mouth
25 6.3

To feel very angry without showing it

is outwardly extreme and uncontrollable anger rather than internalized anger
to throw a tantrum
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
15 4.4

To show sudden strong anger or upset, often like a child

is extreme uncontrollable anger rather than a possibly immature outburst
to foam at the mouth
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
14 8.1

To show very strong anger or excitement in a way people can see

is extreme uncontrollable anger whether or not bodily signs appear
to fly off the handle
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
8 6.8

To suddenly become very angry

is an extreme uncontrollable anger that may be less sudden and more overwhelming
to boil over
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
8 4.8

To suddenly lose control and show strong anger

is extreme uncontrollable anger that can be more prolonged than a sudden outburst
to blow a fuse
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
6 7.4

To suddenly become very angry

is more extreme, implying total loss of control rather than a forceful reaction
to go batshit
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Offensive
2 9.9

To become very angry and act in a wild, out of control way

is intense uncontrollable anger without implying craziness or irrationality
to flip your lid
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
1 8.6

To suddenly become very angry and lose control

is a more extreme, uncontrollable state than a sudden loss of control
to lose one's temper
vsto froth at the mouth
1 3.7

To suddenly become very angry and not be able to control yourself

is stronger and more extreme than merely losing control briefly
to blow one's top
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
8.0

To suddenly become very angry

is stronger and more uncontrollable than a sudden loss of temper
to blow one's stack
vsto froth at the mouth
  • Informal
8.6

Suddenly get very angry and show it

is broader, signifying extreme uncontrollable anger beyond a single outburst

Antonyms

calm
680 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

to compose
17 4.7

To calm yourself after strong feelings

How Angry

to froth at the mouth
  • Informal
7 8.6
enraged
46 4.1
furious
206 3.0
angry
∞ 1.0
annoyed
143 1.0

Surface Forms

froth at the mouth infinitive
froth at the mouth past
froth at the mouth past participle
frothing at the mouth present participle
froths at the mouth third person singular

Morphology

froth + at + the + mouth

The idiomatic meaning 'to be extremely and uncontrollably angry' is directly derived from the literal image of someone foaming (froth) at the mouth, so a learner who knows 'froth' and 'mouth' can infer the emotional/state meaning from the parts. This locative action + body-part composition is a transparent, metaphorically motivated extension that is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner familiar with the constituents should be able to understand it.

Etymology

The idiom froth at the mouth comes from seeing animals that are very angry or ill and have froth around their mouths. People used that strong image to describe someone so furious they seemed out of control, so the phrase now means 'to be extremely and uncontrollably angry'.