any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
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.
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
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
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.
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. )
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured, side by side, with the same passion with which you took to the pitch.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
The “Masters of the Universe” actor shares her passion for horror films, her fear of crawl spaces and her breakthrough role on “Mad Men.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
The kooks have passion, or at least they can fake it.
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026
His passion and ambition were obvious and soon he was invited to train with a team, a 16-year-old playing with adults.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
They became admirers of each other’s passion for justice, and then they found a deeper connection, fell in love, and got married.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
