passion
Americannoun
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any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
- Antonyms:
- apathy
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strong sexual desire; lust.
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an instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
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a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.
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a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.
a passion for music.
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the object of such a fondness or desire.
Accuracy became a passion with him.
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an outburst of strong emotion or feeling.
He suddenly broke into a passion of bitter words.
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violent anger.
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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).
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(often initial capital letter)
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the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
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the narrative of Christ's sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.
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Archaic. the sufferings of a martyr.
noun
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ardent love or affection
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intense sexual love
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a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept, etc
a passion for poetry
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any strongly felt emotion, such as love, hate, envy, etc
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a state or outburst of extreme anger
he flew into a passion
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the object of an intense desire, ardent affection, or enthusiasm
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an outburst expressing intense emotion
he burst into a passion of sobs
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philosophy
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any state of the mind in which it is affected by something external, such as perception, desire, etc, as contrasted with action
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feelings, desires or emotions, as contrasted with reason
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the sufferings and death of a Christian martyr
noun
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the sufferings of Christ from the Last Supper to his death on the cross
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any of the four Gospel accounts of this
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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
- passionful adjective
- passionfully adverb
- passionfulness noun
- passionlike adjective
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
Love Letter Words for Valentine's Day
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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.
Even if it is their passion, they cannot spend two years just writing R&B songs or playing heavy metal.
From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026
The $400-million ballroom has become a passion project for Trump during his second term and he has addressed it often in public appearances, press conferences and meetings.
From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026
Her passion was to become a personal trainer, but on her council estate, she says, people were "putting my mum down" telling her that her daughter would never amount to much.
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026
But some people retain a desire to pursue their passion into their later years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
“I’ll tell you what. I appreciate the passion that you have for your friends’ and family’s well-being, and can see why you might feel entitled to that truck.”
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
