fervent
intensely passionate or earnest
Root
- ferv: boiling heat or intensity
Other words with the ferv root
- effervescent: bubbly or lively
- ferment: to undergo change; to stir up unrest
- fervid: intensely enthusiastic or heated
- fervor: intense and passionate feeling
- fever: high body temperature; intense excitement
Ferv gives heat. Fervent feeling burns hot, even when the voice stays quiet.
He made a fervent appeal for more scholarships, speaking slowly but with force.
Fervent is not casual enthusiasm. It is warmed all the way through: a fervent hope, prayer, argument, or promise carries heat under the words.