1
2
3

Synonym Chooser

How is the word ardent different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of ardent are fervent, fervid, impassioned, passionate, and perfervid. While all these words mean "showing intense feeling," ardent implies an intense degree of zeal, devotion, or enthusiasm.

an ardent supporter of human rights

When is fervent a more appropriate choice than ardent?

The words fervent and ardent are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, fervent stresses sincerity and steadiness of emotional warmth or zeal.

fervent good wishes

When is it sensible to use fervid instead of ardent?

While the synonyms fervid and ardent are close in meaning, fervid suggests warmly and spontaneously and often feverishly expressed emotion.

fervid love letters

When can impassioned be used instead of ardent?

While in some cases nearly identical to ardent, impassioned implies warmth and intensity without violence and suggests fluent verbal expression.

an impassioned plea for justice

When could passionate be used to replace ardent?

In some situations, the words passionate and ardent are roughly equivalent. However, passionate implies great vehemence and often violence and wasteful diffusion of emotion.

a passionate denunciation

When might perfervid be a better fit than ardent?

The meanings of perfervid and ardent largely overlap; however, perfervid implies the expression of exaggerated or overwrought feelings.

perfervid expressions of patriotism

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ardent So ardent and extensive is the TSITP fanbase that Amazon even told them to calm down. Olivia Petter, Vogue, 2 Sep. 2025 While most of us know about laundry, decluttering, and scrubbing the bathroom, there are some tasks that even the most ardent cleaners may overlook. Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2025 Their obsessively ardent fan bases tend to punish such transgressors rapidly and repeatedly. David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025 The heart-condition description is doubly effective, ever since Edwards broke the tickers of ardent devotees of the series. Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ardent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ardent
Adjective
  • While traditional agencies mainly focus on commission structures, Iftiu built his organization around leadership development and recruiting salespeople who are passionate about putting clients first.
    William Jones, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Kaif Shaikh Kaif Shaikh is a journalist and writer passionate about turning complex information into clear, impactful stories.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In high school, Kirk became an avid listener of conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, per NBC News.
    Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
  • These restaurants and dives, located in live music and entertainment across the Front Range, were recommended by friends and readers of The Denver Post, as well as avid concertgoers.
    Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Agrawal and her team studied ionic liquids — salts that are liquid at sub-boiling temperatures (below 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius) — as a potential hospitable environment for life.
    Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • One idea is that about a million years after the Big Bang, the universe cooled and underwent a phase transition, an event similar to how boiling water turns liquid into gas.
    Yasemin Saplakoglu, Scientific American, 3 Mar. 2020
Adjective
  • The Patek Philippe Nautilus, Richard Mille RM, Rolex GMT-Master II, and Rolex Daytona are unquestionably titans in the vast pantheon of contemporary horology, with a fervent and international following.
    Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • McCarthy struggled for the majority of his first appearance in a regular-season game, with the Vikings offense unable to manufacture yards and appearing out of sync in a fervent atmosphere at Soldier Field.
    Ben Morse, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The opposition leader maintains close ties with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of the most enthusiastic proponents in the Cabinet of this particular naval buildup.
    Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
  • In the same piece from Heyman, Phillies president of baseball operations David Dombrowski gave an even more enthusiastic quote about a potential Schwarber reunion.
    Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • There’s a significant battery life tax to pay for the microLED model’s searing brightness, too.
    Andrew Williams, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • But the gifted Argentinian auteur has never tackled the issue as directly as in Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra), a searing and detailed chronicle of murder, bigotry and robbery on a massive scale that also marks the director’s first feature-length documentary.
    Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • At Fox, Collier became known for his passional embrace of blockchain, NFTs and the whole Web3 space.
    Michael Schneider, Variety, 10 Nov. 2022
Adjective
  • This year’s Fall Preview consists of all the entertainment — from TV to video games to theater — that Vulture writers and editors are excited to consume this season.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The inclusion created viral moments around social media with BLACKPINK’s global fanbase excited to see the song’s inclusion and the Shazam charts showing clear curiosity from viewers to find out more about the music.
    Jeff Benjamin, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ardent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ardent. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on ardent

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!