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PASSION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The trait of being intensely emotional
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
emotionalism; emotionality (emotional nature or quality)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passion"):
fieriness (a passionate and quick-tempered nature)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any object of warm affection or devotion
Example:
he has a passion for cock fighting
Synonyms:
love; passion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
object (the focus of cognitions or feelings)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A strong feeling or emotion
Synonyms:
passion; passionateness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passion"):
infatuation (a foolish and usually extravagant passion or love or admiration)
abandon; wildness (a feeling of extreme emotional intensity)
ardor; ardour; fervency; fervidness; fervor; fervour; fire (feelings of great warmth and intensity)
storminess (violent passion in speech or action)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A feeling of strong sexual desire
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
concupiscence; eros; physical attraction; sexual desire (a desire for sexual intimacy)
Sense 5
Meaning:
An irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
irrational motive (a motivation that is inconsistent with reason or logic)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passion"):
agromania (an intense desire to be alone or out in the open)
alcoholism; dipsomania; potomania (an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess)
egomania (an intense and irresistible love for yourself and concern for your own needs)
kleptomania (an irresistible impulse to steal in the absence of any economic motive)
logomania; logorrhea (pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking)
monomania; possession (a mania restricted to one thing or idea)
necromania; necrophilia; necrophilism (an irresistible sexual attraction to dead bodies)
phaneromania (an irresistible desire to pick at superficial body parts (as in obsessive nail-biting))
pyromania (an uncontrollable desire to set fire to things)
trichotillomania (an irresistible urge to pull out your own hair)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Something that is desired intensely
Example:
his rage for fame destroyed him
Synonyms:
passion; rage
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("passion" is a kind of...):
desire (something that is desired)
Sense 7
Meaning:
The suffering of Jesus at the Crucifixion
Synonyms:
Passion; Passion of Christ
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("Passion" is a kind of...):
agony; excruciation; suffering (a state of acute pain)
Context examples:
As her interest in Martin increased, the remodelling of his life became a passion with her.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Depend upon it, he would not like to have his charade slighted, much better than his passion.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
I should not wonder, if he was to be in the greatest passion!—and Mr. Donavan thinks just the same.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The mess-room will drink Isabella Thorpe for a fortnight, and she will laugh with your brother over poor Tilney's passion for a month.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
The high spirit and strong passions of Mrs. Rushworth, especially, were made known to him only in their sad result.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He knew only hate and lost himself in the passion of it.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Suddenly, however, we heard a step behind us, and there was the landlord, his heavy eyebrows drawn over his savage eyes, his swarthy features convulsed with passion.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The relations among the men, strained and made tense by feuds, quarrels and grudges, were in a state of unstable equilibrium, and evil passions flared up in flame like prairie-grass.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
