intense

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Middle French intense, from Latin intensus (“stretched tight”), past participle of intendere (“to stretch out”), from in (“in, upon, to”) + tendere (“to stretch”).

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɛns/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛns

AdjectiveEdit

intense (comparative intenser or more intense, superlative intensest or most intense)

Strained; tightly drawn.
Strict, very close or earnest.
intense study; intense thought
- 1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XX, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 729841413, page 196:
  I rose by candle-light, and consumed, in the intensest application, the hours which every other individual of our party wasted in enervating slumbers, from the hesternal dissipation or debauch.
- 1886, Annie Besant, Life, Death, and Immortality, London: Freethought Publishing Company, […], OCLC 79181382, page 3:
  Of all the questions which, throughout the centuries, have escaped from the lips of man, there is none which has been asked with such persistence, none which has possessed interest more perennial, than "Whence do I come? Whither shall I go?" Man's origin, man's hereafter, have ever been of intensest interest to man.
Extreme in degree; excessive.
Extreme in size or strength.
- 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Revolt of Islam; […], London: […] [F]or C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B. M‘Millan, […], OCLC 1142934411, (please specify the stanza number):
  And the bright air o’er every shape did weave / Intenser hues, so that the herbless stone, / The leafless bough among the leaves alone, / Had being clearer than its own could be […]
- 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
  Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages.
Stressful and tiring.
Very severe.
Very emotional or passionate.
The artist was a small, intense man with piercing blue eyes.

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

intensive

TranslationsEdit

strained; tightly drawn

Azerbaijani: gərgin
Basque: bizi
Belarusian: інтэнсы́ўны (intensýŭny)
Bulgarian: напрегнат (bg) (napregnat)
Catalan: intens (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 劇烈 (zh), 剧烈 (zh) (jùliè), 激烈 (zh) (jīliè)
Czech: intenzivní (cs), silný (cs), vášnivý (cs)
Dutch: intens (nl)
Finnish: intensiivinen (fi), äärimmäinen (fi), kova (fi)
French: intense (fr)
Galician: intenso (gl) m
German: intensiv (de)

Greek:
Ancient: σύντονος (súntonos)
Ido: intensa (io)
Indonesian: intens (id)
Irish: dlúth
Italian: intenso (it)
Japanese: 激烈な (ja) (げきれつな, gekiretsu-na), きつい (kitsui)
Polish: intensywny (pl)
Portuguese: tenso (pt)
Romanian: intens (ro)
Russian: интенси́вный (ru) (intensívnyj), напряжённый (ru) (naprjažónnyj)
Spanish: intenso (es)
Turkish: yoğun (tr)
Ukrainian: інтенси́вний (intensývnyj)
Welsh: dwys (cy)

extreme in degree

Arabic: شَدِيد‎ m (šadīd)
Azerbaijani: gərgin
Belarusian: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: интензивен (bg) (intenziven)
Catalan: intens (ca)
Finnish: ylenpalttinen (fi), hurja (fi), ääri-, yletön (fi), huima, huikea (fi), kova (fi), raju (fi)
Galician: intenso (gl) m
German: hochgradig (de)
Greek:
Ancient: σφοδρός (sphodrós), σύντονος (súntonos)
Irish: dian, dian-, tréan-, an-
Italian: intenso (it)

Malay: amat
Maori: kitakita (of colour), tīwerawera (of noise, sound), mātaratara (of cold), ngoto (referring to emotions)
Middle English: sad, stith
Norwegian:
Bokmål: intensiv

Nynorsk: intensiv
Portuguese: intenso (pt)
Romanian: intens (ro)
Sanskrit: दारुण (sa) (dāruṇa)
Spanish: intenso (es)