Natural Ways to Say You’re Angry or Annoyed in English [370]

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In this episode, you’ll learn natural English expressions used to show anger or annoyance, without sounding rude, aggressive, or unnatural.

Many learners know basic words like angry or annoyed, but struggle to express different levels of feeling in real conversations. In this lesson, I explain how native speakers talk about anger in everyday English, using clear examples and natural context.

You’ll learn natural English expressions, and understand when each one is appropriate.

This episode will help you:

• express strong feelings more clearly
• sound more natural and controlled in English
• choose the right expression for the situation

This episode is ideal for intermediate and upper-intermediate learners who want smoother communication, more natural speech, and greater confidence when speaking English.

If you often hesitate, make mistakes, or feel unsure when speaking English, book a trial lesson. We assess your level, correct you clearly, and give you a focused plan so you know exactly what to improve.

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If you prefer to study on your own, explore our online courses. They give you structured lessons to build stronger grammar, clearer pronunciation, and more confident speaking step by step

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:08

Hi there. This is Harry. Welcome back to my English lessons, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language, how to use it, and how to avoid misusing it. Okay, we'll look at conversational English, business English verbs, adjectives, all parts of grammar, phrasal verbs, expressions, whatever it is you need. Come here. We'll help you out. Okay. So what are we going to talk to Well, today we're talking about When somebody is angry, they are face on them. Yeah. Or as my wife would say, I get a Yeah. Don't know why. Monday, perhaps, but it could be equally a red Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Yeah. So something that really gets So I'm going to give you these how people get angry. And then I'll give you an A lot of them are very similar. They're just different ways to And of course they can be You can be mildly anger, angry, angry, or you can just be a But there are different ways to So here they go. There are fifteen of them. So fed up, furious for fuming, fit to be tied hot under the collar. Enraged. Seething. Incensed. Outraged. Irate. Pissed off. Infuriated. Displeased. Very posh. Displeased to go ballistic. Go ballistic, and then finally As I mentioned before, make your So fifteen ways or other ways in which you can say somebody is angry. Okay, let's go through them and you can practice them and understanding and you can try Okay. So well fed up in a way is of a little bit of depression. You're fed up with somebody's You're fed up with always having At the end of the evening, tidying their rooms. So that's a little bit of anger. You might express it in the way but you are fed up and you like I'm really fed up. How many times do I have to tell Pick up your dirty clothes and It's simple. Yeah. Pick them up off the floor. Drop them in the linen basket so your mum doesn't have to do all the work. So I'm really, really fed up. Okay. Furious. Well, when somebody is furious, So it's up here in terms of I'm furious at the the government because they haven't tackled inflation. You know, they constantly put up They don't control things. I'm really, really furious. I'm going to make sure the next not voting for this government. I'll vote for somebody else because surely somebody can do a better job. Haha. So we hope so. Be furious. Fuming when somebody's fuming, Okay, if you're sitting behind a car in the traffic jam, you'll know all about fumes because they come at you through the air conditioning and you can see the smoke coming out the back of the car. So exhaust pipe. Okay, so if you're fuming, it's ears or under your collar. I'm fuming, you know, I'm so, so you're fuming that it's hard Oh, let me out of here. Oh, yeah. So you clench the teeth and your Oh, yeah. So you're really fuming over What are you fuming about? Oh, this council tax that's gone I mean, how many times are we We don't get anything for it. We pay these rates or these What do we have? We have potholes on the streets. Our rubbish isn't collected, So yeah, something to be fuming Fit to be tied. Yeah. Well, you know, this is one of know, you can imagine the tied, it means you're so angry to stop you, you know, running So, like to have a straight rope around you. So I'm fit to be tied. I'm so annoyed. Yeah. So you might use it in the Oh, yeah. You look a bit annoyed. Annoyed. I'm fit to be tied. I've put in this order not once, Every time I go looking for it. They tell me it's going to be Has it been delivered? Not a chance. I think I'll just cancel it and go into the shop and I'll buy it myself. What's the point of being online delivered when you want it? So, yeah, I'm really not. I'm fit to be tied. Somebody's going to pay for So you storm out of the room. Fit to be tied. Hot under the collar. Not really. Really very, very angry. But, you know, when you're hot colour of your your shirt a it's a warm day and the sun is your car or it's coming through yeah, you'll be a little bit hot And you, you maybe open the collar or you stick your fingers in to try and get a bit of air circulating. So when you're angry, you're hot gets a little bit red, and wouldn't go near the boss today. He's not in a very good mood. He's a little bit hot under the Or if you say something and What? What what do you mean? He said, don't get hot under the It's not. It's not my fault. I'm only the messenger. I'm only telling you what You know, don't shoot the The favorite expression. I'm only giving you the It's not my fault. This is what they told us. So you know, there's no point So somebody is a little bit hot They're feeling a little bit Feeling a little bit annoyed, So another form of anger. When you're enraged, you're full A storm rages up. So when you're enraged, you've got all of this aggression, all of this anger, all of this annoyance inside of you, and you might just explode like the the volcano. Yeah. Okay. So to be enraged, I thought, I'm so, so annoyed. I was really enraged by that It was a stupid decision. Anybody could see that. It was a perfectly good goal. It cost us three points and three points that we badly needed. So to be enraged, seething. Another way to describe your He was seething at the decision. He didn't say anything. And usually when you're seething, you visibly are annoyed. But you don't say anything. So you're sitting there. Hmm. So somebody announces that the All the work and effort that gone to waste. You know, you put weeks and decided not to proceed. Nobody came and asked you your Nobody asked you how you were So you're sitting there as the announcement is made and people look around and they can see, oh, have you seen Michael over there? He's Absolutely seething and Mhm. And not saying something. Maybe grinding his teeth a Might even be muttering a little So he's absolutely seething. So very very annoyed. But usually when you're seething You mutter your expression on Yeah. Okay. So not shouting, not aggressive. Just reading. But. Mhm. Okay. Like the kettle that's boiling. Yeah. Well if you don't switch it off The water will just explode. So seething. Incensed. So we can be incensed by Incensed by somebody's reaction. Incensed enough to write to the So there could have been a the lack of a decision. So they've decided to build a motorway fifty metres from your home. You say, what's the idea of I mean, there's a housing development here, a motorway like that. It's going to be constant noise I mean, this is a crazy What is it going to do for the So you're really incensed the take into account the objections So you decide to take matters start writing letters of local newspapers in the hope fact that you're annoyed. So you're incensed to the point But, you know, eventually you have to stop because really, it's not going to get you anywhere so incensed you can be outraged. Okay. So when you're we had enraged before, but outraged is by some actions. So the cancellation of the So you get to the airport, you You're ready to head off for the And when you get there, you're told, well, the flight has been cancelled. It might go tomorrow, but we're So you're absolutely outraged. Well, where was the warning? Nobody told us. Absolutely outraged. So your anger comes out. You shout, you scream. You might be a little bit beginning of your holiday. You might be only going for And one of the days. Guess what? It's going to be spent sitting in the airport, or travelling back home and coming back the next day. So you're outraged. You're annoyed to the point of Where the anger spills over and perhaps you might think better So to be outraged. Irate is the next form of anger. You're irate when you're Yeah. So you can be an irate passenger the cabin crew member spills coffee or orange juice that's So you're very irate that they You're very irate that they or the trousers for you. So you decide at the end of your journey to lodge a complaint to the airline. So you're right to say that this from an irate or a very irate happened, the flight you were on Okay. Or you could be an irate about the electricity. You know, it has been cut off weeks without any notification. You know, you lost out on some work on your computer because you didn't have time to back it up. The lectures that he just went your washing machine, or you got You weren't able to cook notified that the electricity the the electricity supply was So you're feeling very I rate. So that's annoyed or angry or nonexistent service. So an irate customer okay. So irate meaning annoyed and Pissed off. That's a very informal way of It could mean to be angry. It could mean to be annoyed. It could mean to be irate. It can cover any of the particular words and phrases that we've used in connection with anger. So but it's very, very informal. The Americans use it a lot. Pissed off means annoyed. Yeah. So I'm pissed off with life. I'm pissed off with the company. They they haven't recognized me I'm pissed off with the the kids because they never clean up after them. I'm pissed off with my mates and they didn't invite me to it. So you can be pissed off for Something gets under your skin, little bit annoyed, but it Okay, so pissed off. So somebody might ask, was he didn't invite him to the party? Ah, yeah. But he got over it. Yeah. Okay. Was your wife pissed off because Ah, well, you know, I was in a rush and one thing led to another and the shops were closed, so. Yeah, these are the little piss people off. Infuriated. Well, so when somebody is They are annoyed. Yeah. So they can find something in So really gets under their skin, you know, uh, you know, heavy traffic every morning is infuriating. Yeah. Somebody whistling beside you can be infuriating. So you can be infuriated by You know, some things infuriate Little things tend to infuriate us when we we hear them frequently. Somebody tapping their fingers on the table can be very infuriating. Yeah. Okay. As I said before, somebody whistling the same tune over and over again can be very infuriating. Or somebody chewing gum when Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. I find that very infuriating. Okay, so different things can That's not a really bad sign of that will annoy you. And as we say, piss you off. Now, the next one, displeased, Okay. It's quite a polite way to say I'm very displeased with you. I'm very displeased with this So it's a little bit certainly going to indicate that Yeah. How displeased are you? Oh, I'm very, very displeased. So the only way to describe it is to use other adverbs to say, oh, very. Or I'm really displeased. What? Whatever it might be. Yeah. Okay. So it's quite polite in a way. Doesn't always express the, the but perhaps you're that sort of displaying their anger too much displeased, unhappy, okay? And people who usually use the word displeased will probably never use the word or phrase pissed off. Okay, displeased. Now, the other end of the scale Yeah. So a ballistic missile is So when you go ballistic, boom. Yeah! You explode. You're so angry. You get very aggressive. Oh, wait till you see them. The guy today, he's gone I don't know what happened. I don't know what news he got, but wow, he's shouting and screaming. He's banging the door. He's screaming down the the I wouldn't go near him for quite Give him time to cool down. I think he needs a very cold He's gone absolutely ballistic. Or you might say, wait till he He'll go ballistic when he hears cancelled for the third time. I mean, I wouldn't like to be in email to go ballistic. And then finally, something that don't express the anger in the You don't express the anger in But we say to make your blood and warmer and hotter and from here until your face is well, what made your blood boil? Or, you know, the usual thing. Monday morning, boss comes in, drops a pile of papers on your desk, or you open up your your laptop. Twenty two emails. Can you do that report again? Can you have this ready? Ah, you know, just really, people don't give you warning Okay. So something that again gets under your skin, something to cause you a little bit of annoyance. Okay. Well, there we have lots of expressions, lots of different ways in which you can express about being angry or to express anger. So let me give them to you one You're fed up, furious for tied hot under the collar again, enraged, seething when you're quiet but you're really, really annoyed. Seething. Incensed. Outraged. Irate. Pissed off. Infuriated by something. Displeased a little bit more Displeased. Go ballistic and to make your Okay, so fifteen individual ways in which you can say, or other ways in which you can say somebody is angry or you're angry. So try a few of them, practice them, try to put them into sentences, see how you can use them. See if they're appropriate. If you don't understand them, We'll give you more examples. But the good thing to do is to As always, I appreciate you Join me again very soon.