ecstasy

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
“
The voice of Aminta found an echo in the heart of Maulear, and his ecstasy was at its height, when Gaetano joined her and sang the charming duo from Romeo é Julietta, the chef-d'oeuvre of Zingarelli.

View all »
Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun Intense joy or delight.
  2. noun A state of emotion so intense that one is carried beyond rational thought and self-control: an ecstasy of rage.
  3. noun The trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation.
1 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Bruce had seen him last in Alberta Been up in the North Country, but"--James lifted a remarkable upper lip in a shy grin of ecstasy--"I aims to git married and stay in the States Shoo--you don't say so!" —  The Man from the Bitter Roots
  • And although in certain moments of ecstasy, as when she kissed herself in the glass, she almost taught herself to think that feminine charms and feminine privileges had not been all denied to her, such was not her permanent opinion of herself. —  Miss Mackenzie
  • He could picture her kneeling with folded hands, the polished nails conspicuously bright, and eyes upraised, listening to the boy's clear, pure voice, her whole being in a satisfied sensuous ecstasy He knew that this state of ecstasy was about as far as Millicent's religion ever carried her. —  There was a King in Egypt
  • This--on this he had lived; the ether of ecstasy was the breath of his life. —  The Riddle Of The Rocks 1895
  • And he slapped his knee with his good hand and laughed in pure ecstasy--a laugh that caught all the little group and rocked it as with one mind We don't begrudge you that, do we boys?" —  Americans All Stories of American Life of To-Day
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 319 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

rapture ·  agony ·  joy ·  awe ·  amazement ·  tenderness ·  frenzy ·  exultation ·  terror ·  emotion ·  exaltation ·  adoration
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English extasie, from Old French, from Late Latin extasis, terror, from Greek ekstasis, astonishment, distraction, from existanai, to displace, derange : ek-, out of; see ecto- + histanai, to place; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly spelled variously ecstasie, ecstacy, extasy, extasie, etc.; = French extase = Spanish extasi, extasis = Portuguese extasis = Italian estasi (Dutch extase = German ekstase = Danish extase = Swedish extas, xF.), from Late Latin ecstasis, Middle Latin also extasis, from Greek ἐκστασ, σ1ις, any displacement or removal from the proper place, a standing aside, distraction of mind, astonishment, later a trance, from ἐξιστάναι, 2d. aorist ἐκστη̄ναι, put or place aside, mid. and passive stand aside, from ἐξ, ἐκ, out, + ἱστάναι, place, set, ῖστασ, σ1θαι, stand: see stasis.
  2. from ecstasy, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈɛkstəsi/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a month.

Recently looked up

architrave · hepatic · perseverence · shuffle · computer-driven

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Glockenspiel · Ersatz · Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid · Haifischschwanzflossenfleischsuppe · Der Kottbusser Postkutscher putzt den Kottbusser Postkutschkasten