intense definition | Dictionary.com

in⋅tense

[in-tens]

–adjective

1.	existing or occurring in a high or extreme degree: intense heat.

2.	acute, strong, or vehement, as sensations, feelings, or emotions: intense anger.

3.	of an extreme kind; very great, as in strength, keenness, severity, or the like: an intense gale.

4.	having a characteristic quality in a high degree: The intense sunlight was blinding.

5.	strenuous or earnest, as activity, exertion, diligence, or thought: an intense life.

6.	exhibiting a high degree of some quality or action.

7.	having or showing great strength, strong feeling, or tension, as a person, the face, or language.

8.	susceptible to strong emotion; emotional: an intense person.

9.	(of color) very deep: intense red.

10.	Photography. dense (def. 4).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L intēnsus, var. of intentus intent ² , ptp. of intendere to intend. See in- ² , tense ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : intense

Spanish:

intenso,

German:

heftig,

Japanese:

激しい

View 30 other languages »

in·tense (ĭn-těns') Pronunciation Key
adj. in·tens·er, in·tens·est

Possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to an extreme degree: the intense sun of the tropics.
Extreme in degree, strength, or size: intense heat.
Involving or showing strain or extreme effort: intense concentration.
1. Deeply felt; profound: intense emotion.
2. Tending to feel deeply: an intense writer.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin intēnsus, stretched, intent, from past participle of intendere, to stretch, intend; see intend.]

in·tense'ly adv., in·tense'ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean of an extreme kind: intense fear; fierce pride; vehement dislike; violent rage.

Usage Note: The meanings of intense and intensive overlap considerably, but they are often subtly distinct. When used to describe human feeling or activity, intense often suggests a strength or concentration that arises from inner dispositions and is particularly appropriate for describing emotional states: intense pleasure, intense dislike, intense loyalty, and so forth. Intensive is more frequently applied when the strength or concentration of an activity is imposed from without: intensive bombing, intensive training, intensive marketing. Thus a reference to Mark's intense study of German suggests that Mark himself was responsible for the concentrated activity, whereas Mark's intensive study of German suggests that the program in which Mark was studying was designed to cover a great deal of material in a brief period.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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intense

c.1400, from M.Fr. intense, from L. intensus "stretched, strained, tight," originally pp. of intendere "to stretch out, strain" (see intend); thus, literally, "high-strung." Intensity formed in Eng. 1665 (earlier was intenseness, 1614); sense of "extreme depth of feeling" first recorded 1830. Intensify (1817) was first used by Coleridge, in place of intend, which was no longer felt as connected with intense.

intense
adjective
1.	possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree; "intense heat"; "intense anxiety"; "intense desire"; "intense emotion"; "the skunk's intense acrid odor"; "intense pain"; "enemy fire was intense" [ant: mild]
2.	extremely sharp or intense; "acute pain"; "felt acute annoyance"; "intense itching and burning" [syn: acute]
3.	(of color) having the highest saturation; "vivid green"; "intense blue"

Intense

In*ten"sate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Intensated; p. pr. & vb. n. Intensating.] [See Intense.] To intensify. [R.] --Emerson.

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