vehemence

From Old French, from Latin vehementia (“eagerness, strength”), from vehemens (“eager”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːəmən(t)s/, /ˈviːhəmən(t)s/

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vehemence (usually uncountable, plural vehemences)

1. An intense concentration, force or power.

   The bear attacked with vengeance and vehemence.

2. A wild or turbulent ferocity or fury.

   His response was bursting with hatred and vehemence.

   • 2016 February 6, "Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace," The National (retrieved 8 February 2016):

     This worrisome tendency was on display in recent weeks as Israelis reacted with striking vehemence to remarks by UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro.

3. Eagerness, fervor, excessive strong feeling.
   • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 1:

     I could not wonder at the vehemence of her care, her very soul was tenderness […]

• See also Thesaurus:obstinacy

• vehemency
• vehement

• vehemence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vehemence in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vehemence at OneLook Dictionary Search