heat of passion
Rage-driven mental state
Heat of passion is a legal term for intense emotion—rage, terror, jealousy—that temporarily overwhelms a person's capacity for rational thought.
It typically arises in criminal law as a partial defense to murder, potentially reducing the charge to manslaughter: The defendant argued he acted in the heat of passion after discovering his wife's affair.
The provocation must be such that a reasonable person might similarly lose self-control.
- motiveReason for action
- furyIntense violent anger
- angerIntense hostile emotion
- provocationAct that triggers response
- betrayalBreaking of trust
love triangle · zeal · rage · fit of rage · wrath · loss of control · enthusiasm · diminished capacity · mitigating circumstances · intensity · impulse · fervor · jealousy · vehemence · revenge · ardor · cooling-off period · second degree
- homicide lawhomicide, murder charge, manslaughter, first-degree murder, second-degree murder
heat of passioncold blood
Deliberate, unfeeling manner
calm · composure · dispassion · level-headedness · equanimity
heat of passionpremeditation
Advance planning of action
malice aforethought · criminal intent · mens rea · first-degree murder
heat of passionpremeditated
Planned before acting
calculated · planned · deliberate · aforethought · plotted
heat, passion, heated, passionate, compassion, heating, heater, reheat, heats