intense

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌɪnˈtɛns/ UK /ɪnˈtɛns/ See IPA manual

Freq #3552

Meanings

1

adj
very strong, great, or extreme.

The intense heat made it hard to stay outside for long.
2

adj
having or showing very strong feelings or concentration.

She gave the problem her intense focus all afternoon.
3

adj
of a person: very serious and emotional.

The artist was a small, intense man with piercing blue eyes.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very strong, great, or... extreme ferocious

2 adj · having or showing very... acute

Word family

Forms intensenessintenserintensest

Derived forms hyperintensehypointenseintensateintensationintenselyintensenintensenessintensification intensify intensityisointensenonintense

Related forms disintensifyintensification intensifiedintensifierintensifying intensivereintensify

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

intense pressure
very strong, extreme stress or force

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”), the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)).

*tend- Proto-Indo-European intens Middle English intense Old French intēnsus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# intense

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪnˈtɛns/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈtɛns/
**Frequency rank:** 3552

## Meanings
1. very strong, great, or extreme.
2. having or showing very strong feelings or concentration.
3. of a person: very serious and emotional.

## Examples
- The intense heat made it hard to stay outside for long.
- She gave the problem her intense focus all afternoon.
- The artist was a small, intense man with piercing blue eyes.

## Derived Forms
- hyperintense
- hypointense
- intensate
- intensation
- intensely
- intensen
- intenseness
- intensification
- intensify
- intensity
- isointense
- nonintense

## Related Forms
- disintensify
- intensification
- intensified
- intensifier
- intensifying
- intensive
- reintensify

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *tend-
- Root: intens
- Root: intense
- Root: intēnsus

## Etymology
From Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”), the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)).

## AI Etymology
Intense comes from Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”), the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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