Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause.
- n. A source or cause of great excitement or interest.
- n. Archaic Ecstasy arising from supposed possession by a god.
- n. Archaic Religious fanaticism.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An ecstasy of mind, as if from inspiration or possession by a spiritual influence; hence, a belief or conceit of being divinely inspired or commissioned.
- n. In general, a natural tendency toward extravagant admiration and devotion; specifically, absorbing or controlling possession of the mind by any interest, study, or pursuit; ardent zeal in pursuit of some object, inspiring energetic endeavor with strong hope and confidence of success. Enthusiasm generally proceeds from honorable and exalted motives or ideas, whether correct or erroneous.
- n. An experience or a manifestation of exalted appreciation or devotion; an expression or a feeling of exalted admiration, imagination, or the like: in this sense with a plural: as, his enthusiasms were now all extinguished; the enthusiasm of impassioned oratory.
- n. Synonyms Earnestness, Zeal, etc. (see eagerness); warmth, ardor, passion, devotion.
Wiktionary
- n. Possession by a god; divine inspiration or frenzy.
- n. Intensity of feeling; excited interest or eagerness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; ecstasy; hence, a conceit of divine possession and revelation, or of being directly subject to some divine impulse.
- n. A state of impassioned emotion; transport; elevation of fancy; exaltation of soul.
- n. Enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; strong excitement of feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject; ardent and imaginative zeal or interest.
- n. Lively manifestation of joy or zeal.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a lively interest
- n. overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval
- n. a feeling of excitement
Etymologies
- First attested from 1603, from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmos), from ἔνθεος (entheos, "possessed by a god"), from ἐν (en, "in") + θεός (theos, "god"). (Wiktionary)
- Late Latin enthūsiasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein, to be inspired by a god, from entheos, possessed : en-, in; + theos, god. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Even if people do not normally attribute the term enthusiasm to the Germans, believe me, we are enthusiastic," K+S chairman Norbert Steiner said on a conference call with investors.”
“I didn't know this, but the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek and Theos, which means "in God.”
“They show that, quite understandably, the enthusiasm is accompanied by uncertainty.”
“I don't have to post a snide little note to inform you that your enthusiasm is actually kinda stupid.”
“Why then, daddy, if you are happier than we, what you call the enthusiasm of youth can have nothing to do with it, you know!”
“The scorners; the sneering, the frivolous, the unearnest, the unbelieving, the envious, who laugh down what they call enthusiasm and romance; who delight in finding fault, and in blackening those who seem purer or nobler than themselves.”
“Despite the tribulations of the first two years of Obama, Americans seem still in favor of Democratic rule, but their "enthusiasm" is measured by only two of the Gallup battery questions, numbers 1 and 7.”
The Huffington Post: Stephen Herrington: The Invisible Six Point Democratic Lead
“Choosing an actor who has not carried a film before based on their "enthusiasm" is never a good way to start ....”
Joe Johnston on Why Chris Evans was Cast as Captain America | /Film
“Your kind of enthusiasm is good for my soul I tell you!”
“The word enthusiasm is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “a strong excitement or feeling.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘enthusiasm’.
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Yazhinni Spelling bee
tongue, stallion, scruple, salinity, schedule, rouge, populist, Permian, perspire, pasteurize, multitude, mournful and 227 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Possible side effects may include...
night terrors, anxiety, suicidality, delirium, vapors, insanity, paranoia, paralysis, insomnia, choler, melancholy, outbursts and 33 more...
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Energetic
braze, raze, brisance, brisant, rive, catalyze, whipsaw, crack, actinic, sublimate, animate, vitalize and 88 more...
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Ends in "-sm" but isn't an "ism"
pleonasm, prism, schism, orgasm, spasm, iconoclasm, chasm, enthusiasm, phantasm, ectoplasm, cytoplasm, aneurysm and 55 more...
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wingblossom's Words
flicker, wrinkle, solipsism, tea, aurora, lilt, burnt, crescent, gale, pocket, ephemeral, candied and 136 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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five syllables
ontogenesis, phylogenesis, concatenation, androgenesis, extra textual, inexorably, spagyrically, apophenia, iatrochemist, monocotyloid, morphological, parthenogenic and 941 more...
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reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Links Spelling Bee 2012
230 Words
gargalesthesia, bondieuserie, aguinaldo, alcazar, allosaurus, ambidexterity, ameliorate, anachronism, androcentric, ankylosaurus, anthropology, apartheid and 123 more...
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♡LOVE and things like it♡
dedicated to my man Steven, without whom i would be addicted to drugs, lying in a gutter, hating myself, or hooking somewhere :)
affectionate, amative, amatory, amiable, ammophilous, amorous, ardent, attached to, attracted to, beloved, bewitching, bitten and 404 more...
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Greek Spelling Bee List
need to know these words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lethargy, biopsy, enthusiasm, odyssey, synonym, calypso, character, eclectic, chronology, cosmetic, cynical, hypothesis and 128 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for enthusiasm.
ascription Enthusiasm, i.e. to be filled with the breadth of the Lord, used to be a sin; or at least a bit tacky. Dec 13, 2006