Word.ws English Dictionary

warm

UK/wɔːm/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/waːm/

warm adjective: of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is pleasant rather than uncomfortable.

warm: of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is...
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Adjective

warm (comparative warmer, superlative warmest)

  1. Of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is pleasant rather than uncomfortable.
    • The tea is still warm.
    • This is a very warm room.
  2. Friendly and with affection.
    • We have a warm friendship.
  3. Having a color in the part of the visible electromagnetic spectrum between red and yellow-green.
  4. (informal) Close to a goal or correct answer.
    • Earlier you were way off, but now you're getting warmer.
    • That was a further clue; and here, indeed, young Mr. Dowse was getting "warm," as children say at blind-man's-buff, although, as a matter-of-fact, she had now been talking of George Miller at all.1876, William Black, “An Encounter”, in Madcap Violet. […], volume III, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 74
  5. Fresh, of a scent; still able to be traced.
  6. (figuratively) Communicating a sense of comfort, ease, or pleasantness.
    • a warm piano sound
  7. (archaic) Ardent, zealous.
    • a warm debate, with strong words exchanged
    • Mirth, and youth, and warm desire!1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Song on May Morning”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC
  8. (dated, informal) Well off as to property, or in good circumstances; prosperous.
    • You shall have a draught upon him, payable at sight: and let me tell you he is as warm a man as any within five miles round him.1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC
    • Mrs. and the Miss Cathcarts began to be considered as people of some consequence in the circle in which they moved, while he gradually obtained in the city the name of a warm man.1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 258
  9. (archaic) Requiring arduous effort.
    • The circular iron platform over there is used in the task of tyring the wheels, a warm job, too, by the way.1929, The Listener, numbers 41-50, page 552

Verb

warm (third-person singular simple present warms, present participle warming, simple past and past participle warmed)

  1. (transitive) To make or keep warm.
    • Then shall it [an ash tree] be for a man to burn; for he will take thereof and warm himself.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 44 44-Chapter-15/# 15
    • enough to warm, but not enough to burn1825, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Morituri Salutamus
  2. (intransitive) To become warm, to heat up.
    • My socks are warming by the fire.
    • The earth soon warms on a clear summer day.
  3. (intransitive) (sometimes in the form warm up) To favour increasingly.
    • Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
    • He is warming to the idea.
  4. (ditransitive) To cause (someone) to favour (something) increasingly.
    • It is with no small degree of irony that I confess that immersing myself in an interdisciplinary project has warmed me to the seductions of disciplinary perspectives.2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page xi
  5. (intransitive) To become ardent or animated.
    • The speaker warms as he proceeds.
  6. (transitive) To make engaged or earnest; to interest; to engage; to excite ardor or zeal in; to enliven.
    • there was a collection of all that had been written […] : I warmed my head with them.1717 November 20, Alexander Pope, letter to the Bishop of Rochester
    • Bright hopes, that erst the bosom warmed.1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J....
  7. (transitive) To give emotional warmth to a person.
    • That is just the way God tells me this book is His Word. I read it, and it warms me and gives me light.1886, Joseph Augustus Seiss, Right Life: Or, Candid Talks On Vital Themes
  8. (colloquial, transitive) To beat or spank.
    • Not bothering to turn around and not missing a mouthful, Myrtle comforted her with threats of "I'll warm your bottom"; "I'll turn you over to your dad"; "I'll lock you in the truck"; "I'll send for the bogey man" — all of which Darleen ignored […]1945, The Atlantic, volume 176, page 94
  9. (colloquial, transitive) To scold or abuse verbally.
  10. (transitive) To prepopulate (a cache) so that its contents are ready for other users.
    Synonyms:
    warm up
  11. (Internet, transitive) To send electronic mail from (a domain) to improve its reputation for mail sending.
    Synonyms:
    warm up

Noun

warm (plural warms)

  1. (colloquial) The act of warming, or the state of being warmed; a heating.
    • Shall I give your coffee a warm in the microwave?
    • Sit ye down before the fire , my dear , and have a warm1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the page number)”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC

warm meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

warm in Hindi

having a temperature slightly higher than usual
गरम garam, गर्म garm

warm in Tamil

having a temperature slightly higher than usual
இதமாக itamāka, இதமான itamāṉa

warm in Marathi

warm; pleasantly hot; heated
ऊन ūn

warm in Urdu

having a temperature slightly higher than usual
گَرْم garm
More languagesFewer languages
warm in Bengali
গরম gorom
warm in Telugu
వెచ్చని veccani, సాదరంగా sādaraṅgā, సాదరమైన sādaramaina
warm in Malayalam
ഊഷ്മള ūṣmaḷa, ഊഷ്മളം ūṣmaḷaṁ
warm in Kannada
ಬೆಚ್ಚ becca
warm in Punjabi
ਗਰਮ garam, ਨਿੱਘਾ nigghā
warm in Gujarati
હૂંફાળું hū̃phāḷũ
warm in Odia
ଗରମ garama
warm in Sanskrit
उष्ण uṣṇa, तपति tapati
warm in Sinhala
උණුහුම uṇuhuma
warm in Assamese
গৰম gorom, পুঁওৱা pũüa
warm in Nepali
तताउनु tatāunu
warm in Tagalog
mainit
warm in Arabic
دَافِئ dāfiʔ, دَفِيء dafīʔ
warm in Malay
hangat, suam, panas
warm in Indonesian
hangat, panas
warm in Persian
گَرْم garm, فردمایدن, تافتن, گرم کردن garm kardan
warm in Thai
อุ่น ùn
warm in Vietnamese
ấm
warm in Myanmar
ပူ pu, နွေး nwe:

Examples of warm in a sentence

  • Her classmates are gradually warming to her.
  • It seemed I was too excited for sleep, too warm, too young.1985, Robert Ferro, Blue Star:
  • They say he's a warm man and does not care to be made mouths at.1712 September 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, September 11, 1712”, in The Spectator, number...
  • To the strength and fierceness of barbarians they added a contempt for life, which was derived from a warm persuasion of the immortality and transmigration of the soul.1776–1788, Edward Gibbon, chapter I, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI)...
  • I had been none of the warmest of partisans.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with warm

Synonyms of warm

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of warm

Forms of warm

Adjective
comparativewarmer
superlativewarmest
alternative form (obsolete)warme
Verb
third-person singular presentwarms
present participlewarming
past participlewarmed
pastwarmed
Noun
pluralwarms

Past tense of warm: warmed

Origin of warm

From Middle English warm, werm, from Old English wearm, from Proto-West Germanic *warm, from Proto-Germanic *warmaz, from one of: * Proto-Indo-European *wór-mo-s, from *wer- (“to burn”), which is related to Hittite 𒉿𒊏𒀀𒉌 (warāni, “to burn”), Armenian վառել (vaṙel, “to burn, heat, warm”), Old Church Slavonic варити (variti, “to cook, boil”). * Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰor-mo-s, from the root *gʷʰer- (“warm, hot”), in which case cognate with Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós) (making perhaps a distant doublet of thermos), Latin formus, Sanskrit घर्म (gharmá). In any case cognate within Germanic to West Frisian waarm, Saterland Frisian woorm, Dutch warm, German warm, Swedish varm, Icelandic varmur.

From Middle English warmen, wermen, wyrmen, from Old English wierman (“to make warm”) and wearmian (“to become warm”), from Proto-West Germanic *warmijan and *warmōn. Cognate with Dutch warmen, German wärmen, Swedish värma.

Words formed from warm

Phrases with warm

7 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with warm

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about warm

What does warm mean?
Warm means of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is pleasant rather than uncomfortable.
What is warm in Hindi?
Warm in Hindi is गरम (garam), गर्म (garm). See Warm meaning in Hindi.
How do you use warm in a sentence?
Her classmates are gradually warming to her.
What part of speech is warm?
Warm can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce warm?
Warm is pronounced /wɔːm/ (UK).

Words near warm in the dictionary

  1. warluck
  2. warlucks
  3. Warluwara
  4. Warluwarra
  5. warly
  6. warm
  7. warm antibodies
  8. warm antibody
  9. warm as life
  10. warm as toast
  11. warm bank

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: warm (page history and authors); ऊन (Marathi) (page history and authors); ಬೆಚ್ಚ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਗਰਮ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); હૂંફાળું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); උණුහුම (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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

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