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
- heatedly adverb
- heatedness noun
- unheated adjective
- well-heated adjective
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.
Imperial Brands said it expects to report higher adjusted operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2026, helped by strong tobacco pricing and revenue growth from its vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine products.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
Altman and his company, the maker of ChatGPT, have been at the center of a heated debate about whether AI will change the world for better or worse.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
As the green of summer grew around the dome and the weather heated up, it morphed, looking more like a loaf of bread as the sides began to melt.
From Slate • Apr. 11, 2026
Maybe one could surmise that people have gotten tired of heated discourse, that they’re bored by arguing.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026
Tom, who believed that a lawman could usually “avoid killing if you didn’t lose your head,” later told a writer that he had heated discussions with this Ranger.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
