ENGLISH
REFERENCE

outburst

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈaʊtˌbɝst// UK //ˈaʊtbɜːst// out·burst

n. a sudden and strong expression of a feeling, like anger or excitement. It often happens quickly and can be surprising to others.

n. a sudden, forceful release of strong emotion or energy. Often refers to verbal expressions of anger or frustration, though it can describe physical or natural phenomena.


SIMPLE

He apologized for his angry outburst during the meeting.

CONTEXTUAL

The child's sudden outburst of laughter filled the quiet library, making everyone look up from their books.

COMPLEX

The politician's career was severely damaged by an uncharacteristic emotional outburst that was captured on camera and widely shared across social media platforms.

Synonyms
Origin

Inherited from Middle English outbersten, outbresten. Cognate with Dutch uitbarsten (“to erupt; burst out”), German ausbersten (“to burst out; erupt”). By surface analysis, out- + burst.

Usage

Often followed by the preposition 'of' to specify the emotion, such as an 'outburst of temper' or 'outburst of grief'.

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