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What Do torrid and Toast Have in Common?
Hot, steamy, sultry: English is full of words that do double-duty in describing thirst traps both literal (as in the tropics) and figurative (as in, well, thirst traps). Torrid comes from the Latin verb torrēre, which means “to burn” or “to parch” and is an ancestor of our word toast. (Despite its dry implications, torrēre is also an ancestor of torrent, as in “a torrent of rain.”) Torrid first appeared in English in the 16th century and was originally used to describe something burned or scorched by exposure to the sun, but it has since taken on an extended meaning similar to the “sexy” sense of hot: “showing fiery passion,” as in “torrid love letters” or “a torrid affair.”
Examples of torrid in a Sentence
Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 June 2025
The under-18s, meanwhile, endured a torrid campaign, finishing 11th out of 13 with just five wins all season and looked like a team drained of confidence since the turn of the year.
—Gregg Evans, New York Times, 13 June 2025
What soon follows is a gradual, gentle introduction to a wide ensemble of characters with torrid histories — which is to say, falling-outs over drag show disagreements — as zombie mayhem slowly creeps in through the corners of the frame.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 10 June 2025
SpaceX continues to keep up its torrid launch pace.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torrid
Cite this Entry
“Torrid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torrid. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
from Latin torridus "dried or burnt by heat, torrid," derived from torrēre "to heat so as to dry up or burn" — related to torrent
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