Enthusiastically

How to spell enthusiastically

16 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce enthusiastically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enthusiastically mean?

1. adverbIn a way that shows eager and lively interest or approval.

Enthusiastically in a sentence

• The team enthusiastically supported the new flexible working policy.

• She enthusiastically recommended the restaurant to everyone at the office.

Where does enthusiastically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek enthousiasmos, meaning 'inspiration' or 'possession by a god', which was built from entheos, 'having a god within' or 'possessed by a divine spirit', combining en 'in' with theos 'god'. The original sense was strongly religious: an enthousiastes was someone seized by divine frenzy, and early English uses in the 1600s often carried a faintly disapproving tone, suggesting wild or fanatical religious excitement. Over time the word softened and broadened to mean simple eager keenness, and the adjective 'enthusiastic' and its adverb 'enthusiastically' followed naturally. The same theos root sits inside everyday words like 'theology' and 'atheist', which is a handy reminder that the tricky middle of the word is spelled 'thus', not 'thes' or 'theus'. The long chain of suffixes (-ic, -al, -ly) is exactly why the ending feels so easy to misjudge when writing it from memory.

How the word is built

• en- (in)
• thus (from Greek theos: god)
• -iast (agent/noun element)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)