Meanings
- idiomaticVery angry or upset and eager for confrontation.
Boating enthusiasts, walkers and others who enjoy relaxing by canals were on the warpath last night after British Waterways announced plans to cut 180 staff.
2006 October 11, Colin Brown, “Fears grow for waterways as canal jobs are cut”, in The Independent2 more examples
Last year a committee of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America issued a report guardedly approving Birth Control. […] [M]any Presbyterians heartily disapproved. Last week the Presbyterian General Assembly met in Denver with Philadelphia's Rev. H. McAllister Griffiths and a corps of Fundamentalists on the warpath.
1932 June 6, “Religion: Churches v. Council”, in Time, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2010But BBC executives say they could never have predicted the latest programme to send Chinese officials on the warpath: the corporation's far-fetched spy drama Spooks.
2010 November 11, Helen Pidd, Mark Sweney, Tania Branigan, “Taking Spooks seriously: Beijing on the warpath over BBC spy drama”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 準備開火 /准备开火, 正在作战
- 準備開火 /准备开火 (zhǔnbèi kāihuǒ)very angry or upset
- 正在作战 (zhèngzài zuòzhàn)very angry or upset
Finnish sotajalalla
- sotajalallavery angry or upset
French furax, furibond
- furaxvery angry or upset
- furibondvery angry or upset
- en rognevery angry or upset
- sur le pied de guerrevery angry or upset
German auf dem Kriegspfad, auf Kriegsfuß
- auf dem Kriegspfadvery angry or upset
- auf Kriegsfußvery angry or upset
Hungarian dühös
- dühösvery angry or upset
Irish ar buile
- ar builevery angry or upset
Italian sul piede di guerra, sul sentiero di guerra
- sul piede di guerravery angry or upset
- sul sentiero di guerravery angry or upset
Polish na wojennej ścieżce
- na wojennej ścieżcevery angry or upset
Portuguese em pé de guerra
- em pé de guerravery angry or upset
Russian на тропе́ войны́
- на тропе́ войны́ (na tropé vojný)very angry or upset
Spanish en pie de guerra
- en pie de guerravery angry or upset
Swedish på krigsstigen
- på krigsstigenvery angry or upset
Cite this entry
on the warpath. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20warpath
“on the warpath.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20warpath. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the warpath,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20warpath.
Source: on the warpath on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.