Enthusiastic

How to spell enthusiastic

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce enthusiastic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enthusiastic mean?

1. adjectiveShowing eager interest, energy, and enjoyment about something.

Enthusiastic in a sentence

• The volunteers were enthusiastic about the weekend clean-up project.

• She gave an enthusiastic review of the new café on her blog.

Where does enthusiastic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek enthousiasmos, meaning 'inspiration' or 'possession by a god', built from entheos, which literally meant 'having a god within' (en 'in' plus theos 'god'). In its earliest sense it described the divine frenzy thought to seize prophets and poets, a person quite literally believed to be filled with a deity. The related noun enthusiast entered English in the early 1600s, often with a slightly mocking edge for religious zealots, before the family softened into the warm, everyday meaning of eager excitement. The adjective enthusiastic followed in the seventeenth century, formed with the Greek-derived -ic ending. The buried theos 'god' is a useful memory anchor: the tricky middle is spelled th-u-s, echoing that original idea of a god breathed in.

How the word is built

• en- (in)
• thusi- (from theos: god)
• -ast- (one filled with)
• -ic (adjective suffix)