WordWealth: perfervid

\puhr-FUR-vid\, adj.

very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned: perfervid patriotism. [1855–60; < NL perfervidus. See PER-, FERVID]

—perfer·vidi·ty, per·fervid·ness, n.

—per·fervid·ly, adv.

—per·fervor; esp. Brit., per·fervour, n. (Random House Webster's Unabridged). Look at Thesaurus

Good movies evaporate, while the market is flooded with inanity. Critics can't do much to stop this, but when you read perfervid reviews of the latest commercial offerings it's plain that they do little to cool things down. —— Armond White, "Best Movies, Saddest Culture," New York Press, July 5, 2000

Years ago Philip Roth published a perspicacious essay on the pitfalls of writing satire, the gist of which was that the daily absurdities in our morning newspapers too often outdid even a novelist's most perfervid imaginings. —— Mordecai Richler, "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind," New York Times, April 11, 1999

Islamism has become incoherent and self-deceiving. Perfervid young males announce that they must side with their Taliban "brothers" at all costs - wholly overlooking that fellow Muslims have been fighting against the Taliban for years. At the same time, earnest commentators seek to understand the "anger" of the "Muslim world" as if there were a monolithic consensus within Islam, and the name itself meant wild rage rather than acceptance, submission and centredness. —— Rushdie and the Question of Faith; The Guardian; Nov 5, 2001

Maxwell spent lavishly on himself, with a private plane, a Rolls-Royce and expensive parties. The report claims Black spent thousands of dollars on his Rolls, his plane and on parties. Maxwell was a press baron who did his best to gag reporters who inquired about his impenetrable financial arrangements. Black employed Maxwell-like bombast to pour scorn on reporters who dared to question him about his affairs. He was more articulate than Maxwell, savouring the chance to quash interrogators by using one of his favourite put-downs: "Please desist from your perfervid questioning". Having subjected so many journalists to that kind of treatment, it may not be surprising if the media community is delighting in the opportunity to pour ordure over their tormentor today. —— Roy Greenslade
 in 'Corporate Kleptocracy that Mirrors Maxwell's World'; The Guardian; Sept 1, 2004

Or under the button-down exterior of a familiar Westchester suburbanite was there a giant cockroach eager to mud-wrestle a man in black? Or was this merely a quirk of Miss Polk's perfervid imagination? —— Mel Gussow, "Novelist Fires Off Opening of Fictional Relay on Net," New York Times, August 2, 1997

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