on the warpath

Cultural  

1. From a Native American expression for war, to be “on the warpath” is to be exceedingly angry and to be inclined to take some hostile action: “Watch out! John is on the warpath today.”

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on the warpath Idioms  

1. Furious and on a hostile course of action, as in When the meat wasn't delivered, the chef went on the warpath. This expression was an English translation of a Native American term that literally means “a path used by a war party.” Go on the war path thus meant “go to battle.” It was used in this way by James Fenimore Cooper in The Deerslayer (1841); its present hyperbolic use dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

Since returning from health and safety protocols, a fully rested Jackson has been on the warpath, reeling in sack after sack.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2021

One hour, and 10,000 comments later, WallStreetBets was on the warpath.

From The Guardian • Jan. 28, 2021

I gave a paper of hers a bad review, and I hear she's on the warpath.

From Nature • Jul. 4, 2017

Scrambling to salvage his reputation, Mr. Neschling is now going on the warpath against his enemies, upending a rarefied classical music scene in Brazil, where art and politics have long been intertwined.

From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2016

Why did his mother have to go on the warpath just when everything was so great in his life?

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

• desperate
• enraged
• fierce
• frantic
• frenetic
• frenzied
• incensed
• livid
• raging
• vehement
• violent