Having or showing signs of fever; relating to or caused by high body temperature.
From Latin 'febris' (fever) with the adjectival suffix '-ile' (capable of, having the quality of). This medical adjective entered English in the early 17th century to describe fever-related conditions.
Doctors still use 'febrile' to describe fever patients today, but it also gets used metaphorically for excited, feverish activity—like a 'febrile imagination' means wild, heated thinking that spreads like an infection.
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