vehement
You can use the adjective vehement to describe an extremely strong, powerful, or intense emotion or force. The teenager argued for a much later curfew in a vehement speech to her parents; her parents responded with an equally vehement “No way!”
Vehement is from Latin and was originally applied to intense natural phenomena: pain, heat, wind, etc. It is now more commonly used for intense emotions or beliefs. With the adverb form, people can be vehemently in favor of something, but the more common usage is for people to be vehemently opposed to something. Many people, for example, are vehemently opposed to politicians they didn't vote for, other people spoiling the endings of movies or books, or someone else taking the last piece of chocolate. The stress is on the first syllable (VEE-uh-ment).
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marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid“vehement dislike”synonyms: fierce, tearing, trigger-happy, violentintensepossessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree
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characterized by great force or energy“vehement deluges of rain”“vehement clapping”“a vehement defense”synonyms:stronghaving strength or power greater than average or expected
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Vocabulary lists containing vehement
On the SAT, all of the Reading Test questions are multiple choice and are based on reading passages that may be taken from literature, science, the social sciences, or a U.S. founding document (or a text inspired by such a document). Many of the reading comprehension questions meant to assess a student’s understanding of those passages will require students to choose words that best describe the writer’s tone or point of view, words like the 25 words you see on this list. Learn them here so when you see them in an SAT answer choice, you’ll know what they mean! Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.
Words selected by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
As you read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 8's Collection 2: The Tell-Tale Heart, Scary Tales, The Monkey's Paw, What Is the Horror Genre?