Etymology
Origin of fervor
1350–1400; Middle English fervo ( u ) r < Anglo-French < Latin fervor heat ( fervent, -or 1 )
Explanation
Use fervor to describe an intensity of emotion or expression. Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers show so much fervor that they "bleed Dodger blue." This noun comes to us from Latin fervere, meaning "to boil, glow." In the English word fervor, the suffix –or means "a condition or property of something." There is another –or suffix that means "a person or thing that does the thing expressed by the verb." A corresponding adjective is fervent; synonyms of the noun and adjective are ardor and ardent.
Vocabulary lists containing fervor
Lord of the Flies
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Great Expectations
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Twelfth Night
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their trading action can be “untethered” from business fundamentals and driven by “speculative fervor, viral momentum,” which all can be pretty risky, as described by Roundhill Investments.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026
Ms. Joselit vividly captures Kaplan’s fervor to fulfill his self-appointed life mission to prod American Jews forward from their 19th-century diaspora ghettoes into the freedoms of 20th-century America.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
But what has taken the public by surprise is the fervor with which the audience has consumed Jacob Tierney’s adaptation of author Rachel Reid’s hockey romances – and rewatched those episodes, many times.
From Salon • Mar. 4, 2026
For China’s Gen Z, finding high-quality alternatives to premium Western brands has become a point of pride, shared and celebrated across platforms like Xiaohongshu with the fervor once reserved for luxury unboxing videos.
From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026
She took to reading with a fervor so extreme, Baba Joseph had to take the books from her hands by force.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
