adjective
incensed
angered at something unjust or wrong
Where it comes from
The anger verb incense came through French from Latin incensare, a frequentative of incendere, to set on fire, which also meant figuratively to enrage or rouse. It shares that fire ancestry with incendiary.
How the meaning developed
English also has a separate incense verb meaning to perfume with incense. Their forms converged, but an incensed crowd is figuratively set ablaze with anger, not scented with aromatic smoke.
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Sources
Definitions adapted from Open English WordNet where applicable. License and attribution. Word-history text comes from Lexifour’s sourced social research; pages are assembled automatically, not individually fact-checked on every update.
Updated 2026-09-25. Report a correction.