heated
Americanadjective
-
made hot or hotter; warmed.
-
excited; inflamed; vehement.
a heated discussion.
- Synonyms:
- fierce, impassioned, passionate
adjective
-
made hot; warmed
-
impassioned or highly emotional
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heated
Explanation
Heated things are warmed up, like a heated swimming pool or a heated bowl of tomato soup. After a long walk in the snow, the warmth of a heated building feels great, although tasting a meal that's been heated in a microwave too long doesn't feel too great when it burns your tongue. When heated describes an argument, discussion, or dispute, it means "intense, passionate, or agitated." A heated debate between presidential candidates might be exactly what voters hope to see.
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.
Classmates remember him for getting into heated debates about ancient texts and the scientific method.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
"A hit list of the haves and the have-nots - a scarlet letter," Hanks said during a heated public meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Molecular fingerprinting revealed compounds associated with pine trees, showing that every sample was dominated by heated coniferous resin or coniferous tar, also called pitch.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
“There was no list,” Sheinbaum told reporters Tuesday during a heated exchange at her regular morning news conference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Just last week, she had tried setting me up with Raizel Ackermann on the first floor, in a dinner that had exploded into a heated argument over anarchism.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
