eager
Americanadjective
-
keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing.
I am eager for news about them. He is eager to sing.
- Synonyms:
- interested, desirous, enthusiastic
- Antonyms:
- uninterested, indifferent, apathetic
-
characterized by or revealing great earnestness.
an eager look.
-
Obsolete. keen; sharp; biting.
adjective
-
(postpositive; often foll by to or for) impatiently desirous (of); anxious or avid (for)
he was eager to see her departure
-
characterized by or feeling expectancy or great desire
an eager look
-
archaic tart or biting; sharp
noun
Related Words
See avid.
Other Word Forms
- eagerly adverb
- eagerness noun
Etymology
Origin of eager
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English egre, from Anglo-French, Old French egre, aigre, from Vulgar Latin (unattested) ācrus for Latin ācer “sharp”
Compare meaning
How does eager compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
“Maracaibo was alive with eager strangers as every boat that landed there disgorged an army of oil workers,” Méndez wrote.
From Los Angeles Times
After performing in dozens of films, Binoche is eager to get behind the camera again.
From Barron's
Instead, on the biggest night of his young career, before an audience eager to see things it had never seen, and validate him as skating’s best ever, Malinin fell, then fell apart.
Joe Kramek, chief executive of the World Shipping Council, which represents the world’s largest container and vehicle carriers, said the group supports the administration’s maritime vision and is eager to engage on the plan’s details.
Many people in our troubled country are apparently so eager for peace that they’ll join barefoot monks in colorful robes in walking halfway across the continent.
From Salon
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.
