fit of frustration
- noun
- In a fit of frustration, I guess I reversed the process.
Examples
-
It roars once more, in a final fit of frustration, turns—
Fiction book (1993) -
" I was about to indulge in a fit of frustration over my ignorance when I remembered: that's where Pete got onto the elevator the day I met him."
Fiction book (1995) -
What a tragedy it would be if we, the heirs to the single most important political innovation of modern times—the separation of powers, in combination with a careful system of checks and balances—were to surrender that great legacy, almost without debate, in a fit of frustration.
Academic text (1990) -
He flung it over the fence to join the computer pad and radiophone he'd disposed of hours earlier in similar fits of frustration.
-
Unfortunately, Sisko has neither the time nor the patience to train his weaker players, and in a fit of frustration, he throws a well-meaning but inept Rom off the team.
Synonyms
A sudden strong show of emotion, like a child's tantrum
A sudden burst of anger and frustration often by a young child
A sudden strong show of feeling like anger or laughter
A short fit of anger when someone sulks or leaves
A sudden angry outburst showing strong emotion
A sudden strong burst of anger
A sudden strong feeling such as anger or excitement
A sudden feeling of anger or hurt pride
A sudden very angry reaction that people show loudly or violently
A sudden burst of anger or energy because of stress
Antonyms
How Angry
Surface Forms
Morphology
fit + of + frustration
The phrase is directly compositional: 'fit' denotes a sudden episode or paroxysm and 'frustration' denotes the feeling of annoyance, so together they describe a sudden episode of frustration. This 'fit of X' pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic noun phrase construction and follows ordinary English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Fit of frustration uses fit meaning a sudden burst and frustration meaning when something stops you from getting what you want. So it creates the image of a short, strong outburst, like slamming a door, and that is why it means 'a sudden and intense display of anger or irritation'.