passion

Syllables: pas·sion/ˈpæʃən/

passion noun: a true desire sustained or prolonged.

Noun

passion (countable and uncountable, plural passions)

A true desire sustained or prolonged.
- An oil lamp burned upon a high, old-fashioned mantel, casting its dim rays over a dozen repulsive figures. All but one were men. The other was a woman of about thirty. Her face, marked by low passions and dissipation, might once have been lovely.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 27
Any great, strong, powerful emotion, especially romantic love or extreme hate.
- We share a passion for books.
- That was partly because of a swirling wind that made precision passing difficult and also a derby atmosphere where the emphasis seemed to be on passion rather than football.2011 January 16, Saj Chowdhury, “Sunderland 1 – 1 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2019
Synonyms:

fire
Fervor, determination.
- I spoke with a burning passion.
Synonyms:

ardor, fire in the belly, zeal
An object of passionate or romantic love or strong romantic interest.
- It started as a hobby, but now my motorbike collection has become my passion.
Sexual intercourse, especially when very emotional.
- We shared a night of passion.
(capitalized, usually) The suffering of Jesus leading up to and during his crucifixion.
- Moreouer the perfit beleue of this article, worketh in all true chriſten people, aloue to continue in this vnitie, and afeare to be caſte out of the ſame, and it worketh in them that be ſinners and repentant, great comforte, and conſolacion, to obteine remiſſion of ſinne, by vertue of Chriſtes...1543 June 7, Henry VIII of England, “The Nynthe Article. The Holy Catholike Churche.”, in A Necessary Doctrine and Erudicion for Any Chrysten Man, Set furth by the Kynges Maiestye of Englande, &c....
A display, musical composition, or play meant to commemorate the suffering of Jesus.
(obsolete) Suffering or enduring of imposed or inflicted pain; any suffering or distress.
- a cardiac passion
(obsolete) The state of being acted upon; subjection to an external agent or influence; a passive condition
- A Body at reſt affords us no Idea of any active Power to move; and when it is ſet in motion its ſelf, that Motion is rather a Paſſion, than an Action in it: [...]1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book II, § 3, page 116
Antonyms:

action
(obsolete) The capacity of being affected by external agents; susceptibility of impressions from external agents.
- The Differences of Impreſsible and Not Impreſsible; Figurable and Not Figurable; Mouldable and Not Mouldable; Sciſsile and Not Sciſsile; And many other Paſsions of Matter, are Plebeian Notions, applied vnto the Inſtruments and Vſes which Men ordinarily practiſe; [...]1631, Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Experiment Solitary Touching Other Passions of Matter, and Characters of Bodies.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd...
(obsolete) An innate attribute, property, or quality of a thing.
- [...] to obtain the knowledge of some passion of the circle.
(obsolete) Disorder of the mind; madness.
- The fit is momentary, vpon a thought / He will againe be well. If much you note him / You ſhall offend him, and extend his Paſſion, / Feed, and regard him not.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Verb

passion (third-person singular simple present passions, present participle passioning, simple past and past participle passioned)

(obsolete) To suffer pain or sorrow; to experience a passion; to be extremely agitated.
- Dumbly she passions, frantically she doteth.1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC
- There did I ſee that low ſpirited Swaine, [...] hight Coſtard, (Clow[ne]. O mee) ſorted and conſorted contrary to thy eſtabliſhed proclaymed Edict and continent Cannon; Which with, o with, but with this I paſſion to ſay wherewith: / Clo[wne]. With a Wench.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
Synonyms:

ache, grieve, hurt, agonize, anguish, pain, suffer, thole, throe, wark
(transitive) To give a passionate character to.

Synonyms:

impassion

Proper noun capitalized: Passion

the Passion

The sufferings of Jesus Christ from the night of the Last Supper to the Crucifixion.
- Empty bread, empty mouths, combien réaction.
  Empty bread, empty mouths, talk about the Passion.
  Not everyone can carry the weight of the world.
  Not everyone can carry the weight of the world.1983 April 12, R.E.M., “Talk About The Passion”, in Murmur

passion meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

passion in Hindi

suffering of Jesus: दुःखभोग duḥkhabhog
any great emotion: जुनून junūn, उमंग umaṅg
fervor, determination: अनुराग anurāg

passion in Tamil

வேட்கை, அதிகமான விருப்பு, பேரவா, தீவிர அன்பு, தீவிரப்பற்று, இச்சை

passion in Marathi

passion, perturbation; aggravated emotion: विकार vikāra

passion in Urdu

any great emotion: جَذْبَہ jazba, جُنُون junūn, شَغَف śaġaf

More languagesFewer languages

passion in Bengali: আবেগ, রাগ, কামেচ্ছা, গভীর আসক্তি
passion in Telugu: కసి kasi, సంభ్రమము sambhramamu, శృంగారము śr̥ṅgāramu, ఇష్క్ iṣk
passion in Malayalam: അളി aḷi
passion in Kannada: ರೋಷ, ಉದ್ವೇಗ, ಮಸಕ, ಉರುಗು
passion in Punjabi: عشق ʻiśq, ਅੱਗ agg, ਅਗਨ agan, ਗਰਮੀ garmī
passion in Gujarati: ઇશ્ક iśk
passion in Sanskrit: अनुराग anurāga
passion in Tagalog: kapusukan
passion in Arabic: آلَام ʔālām, عَاطِفَة ʕāṭifa, شَغْف šaḡf, عَزْم ʕazm
passion in Indonesian: sengsara, passio, hasrat, gairah
passion in Vietnamese: thương khó, khổ nạn, đam mê

Examples of passion in a sentence

My passion for football has worn off –I'm into into women's volleyball now.
A slice of passion fruit was added to the dessert for visual interest.
He spoke levelly, with no vocal variety to show his passion.

All 40 example sentences with passion

Synonyms of passion

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

action

All synonyms and antonyms of passion

Forms of passion

Noun
plural	passions
Verb
third-person singular present	passions
present participle	passioning
past participle	passioned
past	passioned

Plural of passion: passions

Origin of passion

From Middle English passioun, passion, from Old French passion (and in part from Old English passion), from Latin passio (“suffering”), noun of action from perfect passive participle passus (“suffered”), from deponent verb patior (“to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”), see also Old English fēond (“devil, enemy”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌽 (faian, “to blame”).

From Latin Passiō, a proper-noun use of passiō (“suffering”) (a sense of passion which is now obsolete or archaic in English).

Phrases with passion

Words that rhyme with passion

Questions about passion

What does passion mean?: Passion means a true desire sustained or prolonged.
What is passion in Hindi?: Passion in Hindi is दुःखभोग (duḥkhabhog), जुनून (junūn), उमंग (umaṅg). See Passion meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is passion?: Passion can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce passion?: Passion is pronounced /ˈpæʃən/.
What is the plural of passion?: The plural of passion is passions.

Words near passion in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-passion.ogg.

Cite this entry: “passion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/passion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.