run high
Emotions become intense
Run high describes emotions, tensions, or feelings that are intense and strongly felt.
When tempers run high, people are on the verge of anger or conflict.
When passions run high, people feel strongly about something.
The phrase evokes a river rising toward flood stage—contained but barely.
- fever pitchState of intense excitement
- excitementState of eager enthusiasm
- intenseExtreme in degree
- emotionComplex psychological state
- passionIntense emotional drive
anger · firestorm · boiling point · blood boiling · tension · political tension · tempers · anxiety · rivalry · peaks · blood pressure · fear · conflict · frustration · stakes · confrontation · surges · fervor