febrile
adjective
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Not too surprisingly, febrile originated in the field of medicine. We note its first use in the work of the 17th-century medical reformer Noah Biggs. Biggs used it in admonishing physicians to care for their "febrile patients" properly. Both feverish and febrile are from the Latin word for "fever," which is febris. Nowadays, febrile is used in medicine in a variety of ways, including references to such things as "the febrile phase" of an illness. And, like feverish, it also has an extended sense, as in "a febrile emotional state."
Examples of febrile in a Sentence
Carl Anka, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
In the febrile political atmosphere of Brazil, Wanderley’s public suicide inevitably had partisan implications.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
The risk of a febrile seizure six to 14 days after MMR vaccination goes up slightly for children younger than 7 years old, to one in every 3,000 to 4,000 children.
—Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025
Instead the media was caught up in a febrile narrative about Muslims that was just beginning to build momentum.
—Mohammad Ali, WIRED, 14 Apr. 2020
See All Example Sentences for febrile
Cite this Entry
“Febrile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/febrile. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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