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
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024
The country’s febrile and angry political mood has been exacerbated by revelations that several conservative legislators profited from corrupt deals to procure face masks.
—Constanze Stelzenmüller, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2021
Hospitals in Cambodia are now required to send the national lab five samples a month from patients with febrile illnesses, and samples from anyone with a severe respiratory illness.
—Stephanie Nolen Thomas Cristofoletti, New York Times, 21 May 2024
Their pensive manner vibrates with febrile tension, and their actions have an impulsive urgency that energizes the movie’s careful composition.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for febrile 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'febrile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Febrile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/febrile. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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