Enthusiasm

//ɪnˈθuziæzəm// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Intensity of feeling; excited interest or eagerness. countable, uncountable

    "Try to curb your enthusiasm."

  2. 2
    overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval wordnet
  3. 3
    Something in which one is keenly interested. countable, uncountable

    "My main enthusiasm is attending and seeing the progress and interest of collectors, to meet old friends, and hopefully to make new friends."

  4. 4
    a lively interest wordnet
  5. 5
    Possession by a god; divine inspiration or frenzy. countable, historical, obsolete, uncountable

    "The intoxication that they sought was that of ‘enthusiasm’, of union with the god."

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  1. 6
    a feeling of excitement wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
eagernessexuberanceexuberanceacquiescenceactivityagreeability

Example

More examples

"The air in that room was thick with the enthusiasm of the participants."

Etymology

First attested from 1603, from Middle French enthousiasme, from Late Latin enthusiasmus, from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmós), from ἐν (en, “in”) + θεός (theós, “god”) + οὐσία (ousía, “essence”).

Related phrases

active excitement

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.