go postal
Syllables: go post·alUK/ˌɡəʊ ˈpəʊstl̩//ˌɡoʊ ˈpoʊstəl/
go postal verb: to become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.
Verb
go postal (third-person singular simple present goes postal, present participle going postal, simple past went postal, past participle gone postal)
- To become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.
- Violence that spills in from the streets may be less worrisome than the worker rampages, to judge by the attentive audience of personnel managers (and the consultants available for hire) at "A Growing American Phenomenon: Workplace Violence." The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service...1993 December 17, Karl Vick, “Violence at work tied to loss of esteem”, in St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.: The Times Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 4A, column 1
- Synonyms:
- run amok, crash out, Note: All terms are idiomatic unless stated otherwise., blow a fuse, blow a gasket, blow one's stack, blow one's top, cut up nasty, cut up rough, do one's block
Synonyms of go postal
- run amok
- crash out
- Note: All terms are idiomatic unless stated otherwise.
- blow a fuse
- blow a gasket
- blow one's stack
- blow one's top
- cut up nasty
- cut up rough
- do one's block
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- do one's nut
- flip one's lid
- flip one's wig
- flip out
- fly into a rage
- fly off the handle
- forget oneself
- get bent out of shape
- get one's back up
- get one's dander up
- get one's Irish up
- go ape
- go apeshit
- go ballistic
- go bananas
- go bitchcakes
- go HAM
- go H.A.M.
- go off
- go spare
- have a cow
- have a fit
- have kittens
- hit the roof
- hit the ceiling
- lose it
- lose one's cool
- lose one's marbles
- lose one's mind
- lose one's rag
Forms of go postal
| third-person singular present | goes postal |
|---|---|
| present participle | going postal |
| past | went postal |
| past participle | gone postal |
Origin of go postal
From go (“to become”) + postal (“relating to the collection, sorting and delivery of mail”), from a number of incidents, mostly gun violence, perpetrated by disgruntled U.S. Postal Service workers on co-workers in the United States in the mid 1980s.
Questions about go postal
- What does go postal mean?
- Go postal means to become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.
- What part of speech is go postal?
- Go postal is a verb.
- How do you pronounce go postal?
- Go postal is pronounced /ˌɡəʊ ˈpəʊstl̩/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of go postal?
- The past tense of go postal is went postal.
Words near go postal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: go postal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-go postal.oga.
Cite this entry: “go postal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_postal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.