impassioned
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impassioned
Explanation
If something is impassioned it's filled with or demonstrating intense emotion. Anything can be impassioned — speech, a play, a conversation, a novel, or even you. Impassioned comes from the Latin word passionem, meaning "suffering or enduring," and originally referred to the suffering of Christ on the cross, known as "The Passion." In other words, impassioned had a sense of trauma and anguish associated with it and only later did it come to describe happier feelings as well. Whatever the emotional feeling behind impassioned, it's still a word that suggests profound feeling and sincerity on behalf of the user.
Vocabulary lists containing impassioned
All Worked Up: Synonyms for "Emotional"
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Just Mercy
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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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.
Back then, they were “a fount of car games, sing-alongs, impassioned debates, and wistful dreaming-out-loud.”
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Back in Your Life,” fueled by some of Wood’s most sensitive and impassioned playing, is a stunner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera called Clooney "a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original".
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Ms. Horn makes an impassioned case for Mr. Schaller’s legacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
I had been a fair debater at Fort Hare, and in my early years in the organization I had engaged in many impassioned debates on the platform.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
