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.
Both approaches use powerful magnetic fields to confine plasma while it is heated to the extraordinary temperatures needed for fusion.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Many households in the region tend to be heated by electricity, she noted.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
A heated debate divides the kibbutzim that Hamas devastated three years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
McBride “was heated for sure, but I never heard a curse from him,” Kinkhabwala wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
She’s an aerialist and she got the straight scoop from a good authority—her spotter heard Uncle Al and the advance man exchanging heated words outside the big top.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
