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.
Graham became an impassioned advocate for the same idea when he was elected to the Senate in 2002.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera called Clooney "a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original".
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Rowett spoke to assembled media in a room in which the impassioned voices of fans could be heard outside the ground.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
Arias and Myart-Cruz gave impassioned speeches hailing the last-minute deals, which still need to be approved by union members and the school board.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
He tells her that although they had become estranged, he often thinks of Vincent, “so often volatile and so impassioned, yet for his noble mind and artistic qualities, always worthy of admiration.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
