fanatic
Americannoun
adjective
noun
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a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits
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informal a person devoted to a particular hobby or pastime; fan
a jazz fanatic
adjective
Usage
What does fanatic mean? A fanatic is a person with an extreme and often unquestioning enthusiasm, devotion, or zeal for something, such as a religion, political stance, or cause.This sense of the word is typically used negatively to imply that someone takes such devotion too far, as in They’re considered religious fanatics due to their extreme practices. Close synonyms are extremist, radical, and zealot.Other times, fanatic is not used negatively but instead simply refers to someone who is extreme in their devotion or enthusiasm for an interest or hobby. For example, calling someone a sports fanatic means they’re an extremely enthusiastic fan of sports. In fact, the word fan is a shortening of fanatic.Less commonly, fanatic can be used as an adjective meaning the same thing as fanatical—having and motivated by extreme enthusiasm or devotion.Example: We dismiss them as fanatics, but their beliefs may be more widespread than we think.
Related Words
Fanatic, zealot, militant, devotee refer to persons showing more than ordinary support for, adherence to, or interest in a cause, point of view, or activity. Fanatic and zealot both suggest excessive or overweening devotion to a cause or belief. Fanatic further implies unbalanced or obsessive behavior: a wild-eyed fanatic. Zealot, only slightly less unfavorable in implication than fanatic, implies single-minded partisanship: a tireless zealot for tax reform. Militant stresses vigorous, aggressive support for or opposition to a plan or ideal and suggests a combative stance. Devotee is a milder term than any of the foregoing, suggesting enthusiasm but not to the exclusion of other interests or possible points of view: a jazz devotee.
Other Word Forms
- nonfanatic noun
Etymology
Origin of fanatic
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin fānāticus “pertaining to a temple, inspired by a divinity, frantic,” equivalent to fānum “temple” + -āticus, equivalent to -āt(us) -ate 1 + -icus -ic
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.
By the end of the first season, I was a fanatic.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
With a fanatic following, limited auto production, and high margins on cars averaging about $500,000 each, Ferrari is more like a luxury company than an auto maker.
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
“A bigger burger is going to get the job done. It promises fullness,” said Paul Whitten, a self-professed burger fanatic who runs a Nashville-based tour company.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 30, 2026
But John Lee Hancock, the creator of “Talamasca,” makes the plots and characters thoroughly accessible to the non-Rice fanatic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
Lancelot now that you could see him clearly, was an erect refinement of humanity—a fanatic for human responsibility.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
