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Synonyms

excited

American  
[ik-sahy-tid] / ɪkˈsaɪ tɪd /

adjective

  1. stirred emotionally; agitated.

    An excited crowd awaited the arrival of the famed rock group.

    Synonyms:
    impassioned, perturbed, stormy, ruffled
  2. stimulated to activity; brisk.

    an excited buying and selling of stocks.

    Synonyms:
    enthusiastic, active, eager

excited British  
/ ɪkˈsaɪtɪd /

adjective

  1. emotionally aroused, esp to pleasure or agitation

  2. characterized by excitement

    an excited dance

  3. sexually aroused

  4. (of an atom, molecule, etc) occupying an energy level above the ground state

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

Spelling tips for excited The word excited is hard to spell because people often want to skip the c (exited) or substitute it with an s (exsited), neither of which are correct. How to spell excited: When you're excited about something you exclaim "oh boy!". This phrase can help you remember that like exclaim, excited begins exc-.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of excited

First recorded in 1650–60; excite + -ed 2

Compare meaning

How does excited compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Explanation

If you're excited you're enthusiastic and animated, like a kid in a candy store. Or a kid on their birthday. Or a kid on the last day of school. Meaning more than just "wildly happy," excited describes all sorts of excessive emotions (and not always the good ones). If you're excited you might be agitated, nervous, anxious, or worked up about something. Skip a little further out on the excited spectrum and you're verging on a loss of control: You're delirious, frantic, mad, or unrestrained. Less like a kid in a candy store than a kid on his tenth cup of espresso.

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Vocabulary lists containing excited

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These molecules act as molecular antennas that absorb the incoming energy and enter an excited "triplet state."

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

I was getting more excited and hopeful about where this could go.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

"I got a little bit excited and ended up having to go to hospital," said Gunn.

From BBC • May 15, 2026

Researchers with the company were so excited about their discovery, they drove down from Palo Alto in person Tuesday to Apple’s Cupertino headquarters to present their 55-page report describing the bugs it exploited.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

I forgot about the seemingly random bullet points that seemed to be marching Elliot and me toward something huge, and I fell asleep excited to see what tomorrow would bring.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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