fever pitch

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfiːvə pɪtʃ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfivɚ pɪtʃ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fe‧ver pitch

fever pitch (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Extreme excitement.
   • 1837, J. G. Lockhart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Water Scott, Bart.‎^[1], volume i, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, page 312:

     [T]here was a wonderful exhilaration about it all: my blood was kept at fever-pitch

   • 2013 November 3, Delme Parfitt, “Cardiff City 1 – 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win”, in Wales Online:

     After all the hype, all the fever pitch build-up, the encounter never really lived up to expectations – as is so often the case with derbies – and the atmosphere was even a little subdued at times.

   • 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

     The Second World War was reaching fever pitch, with the entire Allied effort in top gear for the imminent invasion of Europe, while later that month buzz bombs would start falling on London.

   • 2025 September 27, “Inside the Trump Administration’s Push to Prosecute James Comey”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Mr. Trump’s campaign of retribution began to intensify in mid-July after an adviser stoked his snarling impatience over the slow pace of Justice Department investigations. It hit fever pitch over the past week with the resignation of Erik S. Siebert […] and with Mr. Trump’s remarkable public demand last Saturday that Attorney General Pam Bondi move quickly to prosecute his enemies.

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