ardor

American  

[ahr-der] / ˈɑr dər /

especially British, ardour

noun

• ardors
  plural

1. great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion.

   She spoke persuasively and with ardor.

   Synonyms:

   intensity, earnestness, spirit, fervency

2. intense devotion, eagerness, or enthusiasm; zeal.

   his well-known ardor for Chinese art.

3. burning heat.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ardors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ardor

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, equivalent to ārd ( ēre ) to burn + -or -or ¹; replacing Middle English ardure < Old French ardur < Latin, as above; 17th century ardour < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Explanation

Are you inspired to write love poems to your crush? Sprinkle rose petals in her path? Then you're feeling ardor — an intense kind of warmth and fervor most often associated with love. The Brits spell ardor with an extra vowel, so you'll often see this word written as ardour. But on either side of the pond it's a noun that brings to mind Pepe Le Pew and his fervent pursuit of the female species. But ardor isn't always about love. It's perfectly platonic to be "an ardent supporter" of a certain cause, or show eagerness and ardor in your approach to anything.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ardor ardors

Freud speculated that the “oceanic feeling” of religious ardor replicated the love that infants feel for their mothers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Teenagers everywhere fell under the spell of Rice’s vampires in the mid-‘80s with an ardor that AMC’s “The Vampire Lestat” radiates through the devotion of his superfans.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

García Harfuch isn’t the only politician in Mexico who inspires romantic ardor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

That hasn’t dimmed the ardor of rich Indian families for pre-IPO investment yet, Pasupuleti says.

From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025

Only the ardor of the Wall Street firms, desperate to buy fire insurance on their burning home, remained undimmed.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Neither he nor manager Dave Roberts care to attribute the dip in production to the ardors of catching nearly every game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2023

Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to “La La Land,” his swooning valentine to the movie musical, more closely resembles the film that preceded it, “Whiplash,” in its visceral attention to the rigors and ardors of achieving greatness.

From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2019

Domesticity, its ardors and rigors, unspoken binds and compacts, was one of Merrill’s major subjects.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 6, 2015

I also insist that to a billion contemporary Chinese, Mao Tse-tung has a lot more to answer for than the merry chaos and inscrutable epigrams this opera uses to recall his reckless ardors.

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2011

Now again to be softened with verdure, again hold the nest Of the dove, tempt the goat and its young to the green on his crest For their food in the ardors of summer!

From Browning and the Dramatic Monologue by S. S. (Samuel Silas) Curry

Related Words

• eagerness
• earnestness
• fervor
• intensity
• passion
• warmth
• zeal