What it means
Road-rage is that flash of driving fury where a normal person gets behind the wheel and suddenly starts acting like the horn's their emotional support animal. We're talking tailgating, yelling through the windscreen, filthy gestures, the whole asphalt tantrum. One dodgy merge and someone's gone from chill commuter to full red-faced meltdown on wheels.
Usage examples
"He's got serious road-rage, screaming at every car that dares to indicate late."
"A bit of road-rage and a rude gesture later, both drivers had completely lost it."
"Mate had full road-rage because someone nicked his parking spot and he was leaning on the horn like it owed him money."
"She gets proper road-rage in school traffic, swearing at every SUV crawling along like it's a funeral parade."
Where it comes from
The term road rage took off in English in the late 1980s, especially in the US, as media and police started using it for aggressive, angry behaviour by drivers. It's a plain compound of road and rage, but it stuck fast because it named a very recognisable modern traffic meltdown.
