passionate

adjective

pas·​sion·​ate ˈpa-sh(ə-)nət 

1

a

: easily aroused to anger

a passionate but not a vicious boy

—H. E. Scudder

b

: filled with anger : angry

was passionate in her defense of her cub, and rage transformed her

—G. D. Brown

2

a

: capable of, affected by, or expressing intense feeling

a passionate performance

a passionate coach

b

: enthusiastic, ardent

is passionate about basketball

3

: swayed by or affected with sexual desire

a passionate love affair

passionateness noun

Synonyms

• concupiscent
• goatish
• horny
• hot
• hypersexual
• itchy
• lascivious
• lecherous
• lewd
• libidinous
• licentious
• lubricious
• lubricous
• lustful
• oversexed
• randy
• salacious
• satyric
• wanton

Choose the Right Synonym for passionate

impassioned, passionate, ardent, fervent, fervid, perfervid mean showing intense feeling.

impassioned implies warmth and intensity without violence and suggests fluent verbal expression.

an impassioned plea for justice

passionate implies great vehemence and often violence and wasteful diffusion of emotion.

a passionate denunciation

ardent implies an intense degree of zeal, devotion, or enthusiasm.

an ardent supporter of human rights

fervent stresses sincerity and steadiness of emotional warmth or zeal.

fervent good wishes

fervid suggests warmly and spontaneously and often feverishly expressed emotion.

fervid love letters

perfervid implies the expression of exaggerated or overwrought feelings.

perfervid expressions of patriotism

Examples of passionate in a Sentence

He gave a passionate speech on tax reform.

She has a passionate interest in animal rights.

She is passionate about art.

We were moved by his passionate plea for forgiveness.

Recent Examples on the Web

Thanks to the passionate efforts of the Saratoga Historical Foundation, the Saratoga Village Development Council and the Village Gardeners, our city flourishes with beauty, character and community spirit. —Yan Zhao, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024

The Cloud 23 hot sauce founder and CEO and passionate chef is the eldest child of former soccer star David and fashion designer Victoria, who have known the British royals for years. —Janine Henni, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024

There’s a lot of passionate people that don’t like Trump. —Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2024

Our colleagues have divergent and equally passionate views across a range of issues. —Isla Binnie, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Kids Definition

passionate

adjective

pas·​sion·​ate ˈpash-(ə-)nət 

1

: excited or easily excited to strong feeling

2

: showing or expressing strong feeling

3

: strongly affected with sexual desire

passionately adverb