Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cause to become enthusiastic.
- v. To show or express enthusiasm: "Princess Anne . . . enthused over Sarah Ferguson—'a very, very nice girl'” ( Georgina Howell).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make enthusiastic; move with enthusiasm: as, he quite enthused his hearers.
- To become enthusiastic; show enthusiasm: as, he is slow to enthuse.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive to show enthusiasm
- v. proscribed to cause (someone) to feel enthusiasm or to be enthusiastic
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. Slang To make or become enthusiastic.
WordNet 3.0
- v. utter with enthusiasm
- v. cause to feel enthusiasm
Etymologies
- First attested from 1827. Back-formation from enthusiasm, from Ancient Greek ἔνθεος (entheos, "possessed by a god"), from ἐν (en, "in") + θεός (theos, "god") (Wiktionary)
- Back-formation from enthusiasm. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Other back-formations, such as enthuse and liaise, inhabit a grey area of acceptability.”
“Palin was a forced choice, a bone thrown to the Fundies - who has helped McCain "enthuse" the Bible Belt, but few outside it.”
“I choose this word "enthuse" carefully, because in its derivation from the Greek enthusiasm means, literally, "having the god within".”
“While some things bug Yagoda he despises "enthuse," for example, he has a healthy skepticism toward language extremists.”
“Under the present system he simply can not "enthuse" over self-support.”
“He did not "enthuse," and he did not despair; he kept his head.”
“Molly was disappointed that Dolly didn't "enthuse," and the latter felt that a boy -- such a boy -- would effectually spoil the good times she and her mate might have had together, alone.”
“Well, it was the launch of my election campaign - and Russell had instructed me to 'enthuse' everyone with an”
“However where they were more developed, particularly in colleges, such services were able to "enthuse" students.”
“But I kind of enthuse over the girl with the shoulder-blades and red bunting.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘enthuse’.
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WF - list of EN back-formations
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_back-formations
aborigine, accrete, acculturate, admix, admixture, adolesce, adsorb, adulate, advect, aesthete, air-condition, anticline and 212 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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[Open] Frequently confused and misused
Words that are often used to mean something other than what they mean to lexicographers.
apprehensible, immanent, eminent, seamen, venal, venial, brassiere, brassier, brasserie, brazier, brasier, elegy and 38 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Baby Got Back-Formations
"A new word created by removing an affix from an already existing word, as vacuum clean from vacuum cleaner, or by removing what is mistakenly thought to be an affix, as pea from the earlier Englis...
resurrect, enthuse, couth, donate, emote, greed, isolate, manipulate, orate, prequel, spectate, upholster and 94 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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verbs
deprecate, behold, bemoan, circumscribe, circumspect, pivot, discombobulate, rummage, chasten, chastise, undulate, snog and 122 more...
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the name of the rose
pleasing words I encounter whilst reading umberto eco's novel of the same name.
matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, nones, vespers, compline, usurper, simoniac, heresiarch, malefactor and 230 more...
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2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
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backformations
Inspired by the hilarious discussion of the word bant at around the five-minute mark of this video.
bant, maffick, surveil, ablute, pea, burgle, couth, liaise, reminisce, fluoresce, emote, enthuse and 31 more...
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chelend's Words
unfurl, cataclysm, suffuse, triumvirate, effete, enthuse, emasculate, intimate, cajole, fecundity, trepidation, egregious and 31 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for enthuse.
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