Look at the word ardent in the passage below.
In the late 1700s, the ideals of liberty and equality helped spark the French Revolution.
But France's progress toward becoming a stable democracy, a form of government made
up of elected officials, took many years. During those decades of political transformation
and turmoil, one of the most ardent supporters of democracy was Édouard René de
Laboulaye, a French scholar of comparative law. Laboulaye was an expert on the U.S.
Constitution and regularly held it up as an example of how democracy could be put into
practice. He believed wholeheartedly that France, like the United States, should one day
have a democracy, and he participated in overthrowing France's last self-appointed
emperor in 1870. Eighty years after the revolution, as France was adopting true
democratic reforms, Laboulaye played a prominent role in establishing and defining the
country's new form of government.
What is the meaning of ardent as used in the passage?
passionate
confused
defiant