passion
noun
any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
passion
American
[pash-uhn]
/ ˈpæʃ ən /
noun
-
passions
plural
-
any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
- Antonyms:
- apathy
-
strong sexual desire; lust.
-
an instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
-
a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.
-
a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.
a passion for music.
-
the object of such a fondness or desire.
Accuracy became a passion with him.
-
an outburst of strong emotion or feeling.
He suddenly broke into a passion of bitter words.
-
violent anger.
-
the state of being acted upon or affected by something external, especially something alien to one's nature or one's customary behavior (contrasted with action).
-
(often initial capital letter)
-
the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
-
the narrative of Christ's sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.
-
-
Archaic. the sufferings of a martyr.
passion
1
British
/ ˈpæʃən /
noun
-
ardent love or affection
-
intense sexual love
-
a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept, etc
a passion for poetry
-
any strongly felt emotion, such as love, hate, envy, etc
-
a state or outburst of extreme anger
he flew into a passion
-
the object of an intense desire, ardent affection, or enthusiasm
-
an outburst expressing intense emotion
he burst into a passion of sobs
-
philosophy
-
any state of the mind in which it is affected by something external, such as perception, desire, etc, as contrasted with action
-
feelings, desires or emotions, as contrasted with reason
-
-
the sufferings and death of a Christian martyr
Passion
2
British
/ ˈpæʃən /
noun
-
the sufferings of Christ from the Last Supper to his death on the cross
-
any of the four Gospel accounts of this
-
a musical setting of this
the St Matthew Passion
Usage
What are other ways to say passion?
Passion refers to any powerful emotion or feeling, such as love or hate. When should you use this noun over feeling, emotion, or sentiment? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of passion
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin passiōn-, stem of passiō “Christ's sufferings on the cross,” any of the Biblical accounts of these, special use of Late Latin passiō “suffering, submission,” equivalent to Latin pass(us), past participle of patī “to suffer, submit” + -iō -ion; cf. patient ( def. )
Explanation
Passion is a strong emotion, usually related to love or anger. If on your first time out together your date falls on their knees and tells you they'd die for you — they're gripped by passion (or maybe just nuts). We associate passion with any intense feeling, but centuries ago it referred specifically to intense pain. The sufferings of religions martyrs, who were tortured and killed for their beliefs, were called "passions," from the Latin passio, or suffering. Today we've dropped the torture, and most of us, when we're not in the grip of passion, have a passion (or intense interest) — for things like gardening or golf or dollhouse architecture.
Vocabulary lists containing passion
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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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.
See Examples For:
These people have tangible passion and intoxicating energy for what they do.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
The embracement, the passion, the creativity, the advocacy, the identification, the continued support.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"My teams are built on togetherness, hard work, intensity and a passion to improve every single day," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
"I am going to keep doing what I'm doing, go out there and ride with passion and love and see how far I can go in the sport."
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
One was my Jonathan’s, raised in a high key of passion; the other Mr. Morris’ strong resolute tone of quiet command.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Passion, humor and a snarl of defiance run through the album like a bullet.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
It's a nod to Michael Sheen's production The Passion of Port Talbot in 2011, which brought global attention to the town.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
The foundation made the film in collaboration with production companies Amazon MGM Studios and Passion Planet.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Harriet Cullen’s delightful biography of her mother, “Lady Pamela Berry: Passion, Politics and Power,” tells of a great fixer, the last political hostess in London.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
When they came for me, I was rehearsing Bach's St. Matthew Passion, but even in German I understood nothing except the language of music.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
“Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Woodman rang the bell on the Nasdaq trading floor, and the company touted its products as a way to enable "people to capture their life's passions in ways they could have never done before."
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
As an artificial-intelligence researcher with a specialty in videogames, Togelius is caught in the middle of what he calls “an ongoing culture war” between his passions.
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
We’re told that sharing our thoughts and passions increases our career survival odds.
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
It depends on things not going wrong, on mistakes not being made, on the reptilian passions not being seriously aroused.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
