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take umbrage

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take umbrage

  (formal)

to become upset and angry about something someone has said or done (often + at ) He took great umbrage at newspaper reviews of his book. The minister took umbrage when colleagues queried her budget plans.

See also: take, umbrage

take umbrage

Feel resentment, take offense, as in Aunt Agatha is quick to take umbrage at any suggestion to do things differently. This expression features one of the rare surviving uses of umbrage, which now means "resentment" but comes from the Latin umbra, for "shade," and presumably alludes to the "shadow" of displeasure. [Late 1600s]

See also: take, umbrage