blow up — become very angry
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+informalcommon
to suddenly become extremely angry and start shouting or reacting strongly.
Say it like a native
Textbook My father became extremely angry and began to shout.
Native My dad just blew up at me.
'Blow up (at someone)' is the natural way to describe a sudden angry outburst; the formal version is flat.
Pattern: blow up (at someone)
In use
- My boss blew up at me when I missed the deadline.relationships
- Sometimes, when people are under a lot of stress at work, they might blow up at their colleagues over small mistakes.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He blew up with me over nothing.
✓ He blew up at me over nothing.
You blow up AT someone, not 'with'.
Common collocations
blow up at someone— at me, completely, over nothing, just
Don't confuse it
Different from 'calm down' (to become less angry).
Related
- blow up (explode) — Another meaning of 'blow up' is 'explode'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.