Feelings are complicated, and anger is one of the most difficult emotions to control. But is there a word for when someone gets mad at you for being mad at them?
Below, you’ll learn what you can call a short-tempered person who doesn’t take criticism well, so stick around!
Words for Someone Who Gets Mad Because You’re Mad
- Defensive
- Toxic
- Irascible
- Entitled
- Choleric
- Impetuous
- Self-justifying
- Immature
- Irrational
- Short-tempered
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- If someone becomes angry because they feel attacked by your criticism, you can call them “defensive.”
- A “toxic” person poisons their relationships with others because of their inability to accept fault.
- If someone gets mad at your anger simply because they have an easily-triggered temper, you can call them “irascible.”
Stay where you are! In the next section, we’ll discuss our three favorite words for someone who gets mad because you’re made in greater detail.
After that, we’ll provide some helpful example sentences using each.
Defensive
When someone gets mad at you for something they did, they are probably reacting that way because they feel “defensive.”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “defensive” as “too quick to protect yourself from being criticized.”
Thus “defensive” is the word for when someone already suffers from a low self-image, making it very difficult for them to accept criticism from others.
Essentially, some people struggle with the idea of being wrong. Thus, they view any and all criticism of their behavior as an attack that they must defend themselves from.
So, when you express that you are angry with their behavior, they may become angry with you for criticizing them. After all, it is sometimes easier to turn to anger than it is to consider our own faults!
To see this phrase in action, let’s look at a couple of example sentences:
There’s no need to get so defensive; at some point, we need to grow up and have an adult conversation about our feelings.
I’ve tried talking to Claire about how her behavior affects me, but she’s so defensive, and I always end up feeling like the bad guy.
Toxic
“Toxic” is a good word to describe someone who undermines your feelings and gets angry with you for expressing them.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “toxic” as “causing you a lot of harm and unhappiness over a long period of time.”
Essentially, a toxic person is someone who is struggling to deal with the stressors and issues in their own life. As a result, they develop bad coping mechanisms and can do harm to others.
In other words, they poison their relationships with their negative behaviors, just like a literal toxin.
One of the most common traits of a toxic person is that they don’t apologize properly. This is usually because they struggle with introspection and don’t ever like to believe that they are in the wrong.
Moreover, they often choose to play the victim whenever someone tries to confront them or hold them accountable. Therefore, if you become angry with them, they may mirror your anger to deflect from their faults.
Therefore, you should be very cautious when someone exhibits this kind of behavior. Getting into any kind of relationship with a toxic person can be very damaging to your well-being.
Have a look at the examples below:
Charlie is a very toxic individual, and he’ll always find a way to flip the script on you if you criticize him.
Every time I got angry with her, she would find a way to make me feel guilty for having those feelings; our relationship was just very toxic.
Irascible
Merriam-Webster defines the word “irascible” as “marked by hot temper and easily provoked anger.”
Sometimes, when someone gets mad at you for doing the same thing they do, the main cause behind it is their short temper and lack of self-control.
In other words, if you are expressing your anger at an irascible person, you may end up provoking their own anger problems. This leads to an unproductive shouting match instead of a reasonable conversation.
It’s never nice to be criticized. However, someone people feel absolutely outraged at the very idea that you are judging their character.
Moreover, they may become ironically enraged at your ill temper, even though they have anger issues of their own!
In short, you can use this word to describe someone who is generally just grumpy and unpleasant.
See the examples below:
That irascible old man hasn’t been allowed in this bar for over fifteen years.
Careful not to make too much noise – we have an irascible neighbor upstairs.