Word.ws English Dictionary

red rag to a bull

red rag to a bull noun: something that will enrage another particular person.

Noun

red rag to a bull (plural red rags to a bull)

  1. Something that will enrage another particular person.
    • Simply mentioning the word "nationalism" to him is like a red rag to a bull.
    • This was a red rag to the bull. He raged and stormed so (he was crossing the river at the time) that I judge it made him blind, because he ran over the steering-oar of a trading-scow.1883, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 6, in Life on the Mississippi, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, →OCLC

Examples of red rag to a bull in a sentence

  • Any suspicion of impropriety was to Elizabeth-Jane like a red rag to a bull.1886 May, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXX, in The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character. […], volume II, London: Smith...
  • He did not say that he had been visiting among his neighbours; this to Pryer would have been like a red rag to a bull.1873–1884 (date written), Samuel Butler, edited by R[ichard] A[lexander] Streatfeild, The Way of All Flesh, London: Grant Richards...

Synonyms of red rag to a bull

Forms of red rag to a bull

pluralred rags to a bull
alternative formred rag
alternative formred rag to bulls

Origin of red rag to a bull

In reference to the muleta used by matadors in bullfighting.

Questions about red rag to a bull

What does red rag to a bull mean?
Red rag to a bull means something that will enrage another particular person.
How do you use red rag to a bull in a sentence?
Any suspicion of impropriety was to Elizabeth-Jane like a red rag to a bull.
What part of speech is red rag to a bull?
Red rag to a bull is a noun.
What is the plural of red rag to a bull?
The plural of red rag to a bull is red rags to a bull.

Words near red rag to a bull in the dictionary

  1. red pussy hair
  2. red pussy hairs
  3. Red Queen hypothesis
  4. Red Queen's hypothesis
  5. red rag
  6. red rag to a bull
  7. red rags
  8. red rags to a bull
  9. red rags to bulls
  10. red rail
  11. red rails

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: red rag to a bull (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.

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