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Emotion Thesaurus Entry: Anger

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When it comes to emotion, sometimes we need a brainstorming nudge. After all, each character will express their feelings differently depending on their personality, emotional range, and comfort zone. We hope this short, sample list of expressions will help you better imagine how your character might show this emotion!

If you need to go deeper, we have detailed lists of body language, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and mental responses for 130 emotions in the 2019 expanded second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression.

ANGER

  • pounding fists against the thighs, a table, a wall
  • breathing deeply, noisily
  • laughter with an edge
  • yelling
  • snapping at people
  • talking in a carefully controlled tone
  • a shaking voice
  • sarcasm
  • picking fights (verbal or physical)
  • irrational reactions to inconsequential things
  • demanding immediate action
  • jumping into things without thinking
  • taking inappropriate risks…

Win your readers’ hearts by tailoring your character’s emotional responses so they’re compelling, credible, and realistic.

If you struggle with writing emotions, you aren’t alone. The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression has helped writers all over the globe, and it can help you. To find out more about this bestselling book, please visit our bookstore.

Prefer the flexibility of instant online access and greater searchability?

The Emotion Thesaurus is also at our sister site, One Stop for Writers. Visit the Emotion Thesaurus Page to view our complete list of entries.

TIP: While you’re there, check out our hyper-intelligent Character Builder that helps you create deep, memorable characters in half the time!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Robert Foster says

    This one of the greatest blogs I have ever found. It consistantly makes my writing better. Would you be willing to add a couple of things to The Emotion Thesaurus? Entries for contempt, lust and irrationality would be big helps (I’m struggling to write scenes that include these. Thanks again for your hard work!

  4. mesin fotocopy says

    Hey there, You have done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am confident they’ll be benefited from this website.

  5. Ann-Marie says

    Oh my, I just stumbled upon your site while searching for descriptions for places. Oh my gosh, you are a godsend! Can’t thank you enough!

  9. Crystal (writermama on bb's) says

    Angela, Becca, thank you SO MUCH for this resource!! I just now happened upon this link through the blue boards (Verla Kay’s chat board) and couldn’t be more delighted. I am currently working on a mid-grade novel and recently got stuck on how to show a character’s anger. I put something very cliche but NOW I’m going back to revise it. Thank you, thank you for compiling such great ideas!

  10. Angela says

    Thanks for letting us know where you heard about it from–it’s good to know the word is spreading. We really hope this will be a good resource for writers.

  11. eagleeyeviews says

    What an excellent idea. Very useful for writers. I have bookmarked your blog for easy reference.

    I heard about this from the forum on Critique Circle. Thanks for a valuable resource.

  15. Angela says

    Thanks for your feedback–it’s good to know that others find this useful. Feel free to link to us if it’s easier–we’ll profile new emotions each week.

    Happy writing!

  16. Rachel says

    This IS a great idea! Love these posts. I am going to print these our for those times when I am telling and not showing. Thanks!

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