febrile
/ˈfiːbrʌɪl
/adjective
1Having or showing the symptoms of a fever: a febrile illness...
- The primary end point was a febrile illness (fever on at least one day plus symptoms for at least two consecutive days).
- Persons living in households with a vaccinated child experienced 40 percent fewer cases of febrile respiratory illness.
- This is called a fever seizure or febrile seizure.
Synonyms
feverish, fevered, hot, burning, burning up, fiery, flushed, sweating, in a cold sweat;
shivering;
delirious
informal with a temperature
rare pyretic
2Characterized by a great deal of nervous excitement or energy: the febrile atmosphere of the city...
- The febrile excitement of the story is sustained by the use of rapid action, exotic locales, and exaggerated passions, often cruel or prurient.
- The febrile atmosphere within the party at Westminster last week has, on occasion, been reminiscent of those times.
- In the febrile atmosphere following the raids, all sorts of spectacular claims emerged, some from British sources, but mostly from the United States and Pakistan.
Derivatives
febrilely
- Its author, Stephen Crane, was a genius who admired Tolstoy and who somewhat febrilely aimed at absolute truthfulness.
- As a surgeon he is endlessly aware, febrilely alive, persistently analytical, incorrigibly fascinated: a product of his time.
febrility
- But this is really just a symptom of the man's emotional febrility.
- With a certain degree of febrility, she starts up the laptop.
- There was a discretion to her febrility which was really good.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from French fébrile or medieval Latin febrilis, from Latin febris 'fever'.