to go ballistic
3
5.9
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ bəˈlɪstɪk/
:
dispararse
- If my friend had said to me, in that moment, 'you didn't build that,' I'm sure I'd have gone ballistic.
Examples
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He's going to go ballistic.
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Daddy won't go too ballistic.
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My father's going to go ballistic on me.
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He went totally ballistic.
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"Wall Street bailouts went ballistic under Obama—$700 billion under Bush, but $4.5 trillion under Obama, plus another $16 trillion in zero-interest loans for Wall Street.
Blog text (23) -
When the news broke about the merger, the company's stocks go ballistic in just a few hours.
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As soon as the new product line was announced, sales went ballistic across all regions.
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After the viral video was released, the brand's online engagement went ballistic overnight.
Synonyms
144
2.1
To rise suddenly by a large amount
136
4.3
To increase very quickly in number or size
96
3.4
To rise quickly to a very high level, for example prices or temperatures
52
4.1
To rise very quickly to a high level
51
3.4
To rise suddenly and sharply
41
3.7
To rise suddenly and strongly in amount or number
39
3.9
To make prices rise to a higher level, often quickly
25
4.1
Rise quickly to a much higher level
12
5.9
To raise prices or rent suddenly by a lot
11
4.1
To increase very quickly
3
4.8
Raise prices or fees suddenly by a large amount
2
4.4
Increase very quickly to a much higher level
2
5.7
To rise very quickly to a much higher level
1
3.8
Rise very quickly to a much higher level
1
4.8
To raise prices by a large amount, often suddenly
Rise quickly to a much higher level, for example prices or temperatures
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward verb + adjective construction: 'go' = become and 'ballistic' = extremely/aggressively extreme or rapidly intense, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'become ballistic' = become extreme/very intense (applied to anger, excitement, or rapid rises). The compositional pattern (go + adjective = change of state) is a common, cross-linguistic construction, so the meaning is transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The idiom go ballistic comes from the picture of a rocket or missile that suddenly shoots up into the sky. That's why we also use it to say something 'rises very quickly', like prices or interest.