enthusiastic
- 1Showing eager interest and strong excitement about something; keen and highly motivated.
The volunteers were enthusiastic about restoring the old theater.
He gave an enthusiastic nod the moment he was offered the job.
Similareager, keen, excited, passionate, zealous
Oppositeunenthusiastic, apathetic, indifferent, reluctant
Note
Everyday keenness with a sacred pedigree: the word comes from Ancient Greek enthousiastikós, tied to the sense of divine possession. When Washington Irving in 1824 calls a young man visionary and enthusiastic, the word still carries a trace of inspired fervor. In an enthusiastic lover of art it means simple, cheerful keenness. It forms its comparative with more and most: more enthusiastic, never enthusiasticer.
- 2Relating to ecstatic religious feeling or to the state of being filled or inspired by a god.
The preacher's enthusiastic followers claimed to speak with the voice of heaven.
The sect was deeply enthusiastic, its members convinced of direct divine inspiration.
Similarecstatic, fervent, rapturous, fanatical
Note
Here the word keeps its religious weight. To be enthusiastic in this sense is to be filled or moved by a god, not merely keen. Critics leveled it as a charge against sects claiming private revelation, so in early modern religious writing an "enthusiastic sect" is usually an accusation rather than praise. Read it against the everyday "eager" meaning before assuming approval.
Practice
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Origin
This word derives from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιαστικός (enthousiastikós), formed from either ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmós) or ἐνθουσιάζω (enthousiázō) plus the suffix -τικός (-tikós).