white-hot

[hwahyt-hot, wahyt-]

adjective

1. extremely hot.

2. showing white heat.

3. exceedingly enthusiastic, ardent, angry, devoted, etc.; impassioned; perfervid.

   a fierce, white-hot loyalty to the king.

white-hot

adjective

1. at such a high temperature that white light is emitted

2. informal,  in a state of intense emotion

Word History and Origins

Origin of white-hot¹

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Considering they came into the tournaments as white-hot favourites, there was no excuse for them not to be.

From BBC

April Soto, 26, copes with her white-hot rage at life by chanting “dead inside” while listening to ambient noise through her Beats.

From Los Angeles Times

The movie also comes as the once white-hot market for superhero films has cooled, both domestically and abroad.

From Los Angeles Times

This created a white-hot housing market — and one in which the highest-earning millennials were able to afford a piece of the pie.

From Salon

The prosecution's case is that the catalyst for the attack was "white-hot anger, at having been disrespected in public".

From BBC

Related Words

• ardent 
• fervent 
• fierce 
• fiery 
• heated 
• intense 
• passionate 
• rousing 
• sentimental 
• stirring