Meanings
present singular third person flies off the handle · participle present flying off the handle · past flew off the handle · participle past flown off the handle
- colloquialidiomaticTo become very angry or enraged; to throw a fit or go crazy.
My dad flew off the handle when he saw the F grade on my report card.
1 more example
But he added: “Look, it happens to everybody. I’ve flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.”
2025 June 7, Edward Helmore, quoting JD Vance, “Trump warns Musk of ‘very serious consequences’ if he backs Democrats”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
verbget very angry and fly into a rage
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the image of an axe head becoming loose and suddenly flying free of its handle, a vivid metaphor for losing control. The phrase is an early 19th-century American idiom, with printed examples first appearing c. the 1810s–1830s.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque bere onetik irten
- bere onetik irtento become very angry
Catalan sortir de polleguera
- sortir de polleguerato become very angry
Chinese Mandarin 勃然大怒
- 勃然大怒 (bórándànù)to become very angry
Finnish menettää malttinsa, polttaa päreensä
- menettää malttinsato become very angry
- polttaa päreensäto become very angry
French sortir de ses gonds
- sortir de ses gondsto become very angry
German aus der Haut fahren
- aus der Haut fahrento become very angry
Hungarian begurul, dühbe gurul
- begurulto become very angry
- dühbe gurulto become very angry
- dühbe jönto become very angry
- kiakadto become very angry
- felmegy a pumpato become very angry
- felkapja a vizetto become very angry
- kikel magábólto become very angry
- bepöccento become very angry
- kijön a béketűrésbőlto become very angry
- kijön a sodrábólto become very angry
Italian uscire dai gangheri
- uscire dai gangherito become very angry
Latvian uzsprāgt gaisā
- uzsprāgt gaisāto become very angry
Persian از کوره دررفتن
- از کوره دررفتن (az kure darraftan)to become very angry
Portuguese perder as estribeiras
- perder as estribeirasto become very angry
Spanish perder los estribos
- perder los estribosto become very angry
Swedish få tuppjuck
- få tuppjuckto become very angry
Cite this entry
fly off the handle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20off%20the%20handle
“fly off the handle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20off%20the%20handle. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fly off the handle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20off%20the%20handle.
Source: fly off the handle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.