excite
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of.
to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father's wrath.
-
to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings).
to excite jealousy or hatred.
- Synonyms:
- evoke
-
to cause; awaken.
to excite interest or curiosity.
-
to stir to action; provoke or stir up.
to excite a dog by baiting him.
-
Physiology. to stimulate.
to excite a nerve.
-
Electricity. to supply with electricity for producing electric activity or a magnetic field.
to excite a dynamo.
-
Physics. to raise (an atom, molecule, etc.) to an excited state.
verb
-
to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation
-
to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evoke
her answers excited curiosity
-
to cause or bring about; stir up
to excite a rebellion
-
to arouse sexually
-
physiol to cause a response in or increase the activity of (an organ, tissue, or part); stimulate
-
to raise (an atom, molecule, electron, nucleus, etc) from the ground state to a higher energy level
-
to supply electricity to (the coils of a generator or motor) in order to create a magnetic field
-
to supply a signal to a stage of an active electronic circuit
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
excitesimple
-
excitessimple
-
have excitedperfect
-
has excitedperfect
-
am excitingprogressive
-
are excitingprogressive
-
is excitingprogressive
-
have been excitingperfect progressive
-
has been excitingperfect progressive
Past
-
excitedsimple
-
had excitedperfect
-
was excitingprogressive
-
were excitingprogressive
-
had been excitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of excite
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin excitāre, from ex- ex- 1 + citāre “to move repeatedly, set in motion, summon” (from ciēre “to arouse, cause to go, move”)
Explanation
To excite is to stimulate, animate, or energize. The return of your favorite TV show might excite you, and winning millions of dollars in the lottery will definitely excite you. While a new book by a beloved author excites one person, and an extra scoop of ice cream excites another, it might take something like a free trip to Hawaii to excite you. In quantum mechanics, the word excite takes on a more scientific meaning: to raise something, like an atom or an electron, to a higher level of energy. The Latin root of excite is excitare, "rouse, call out, or summon forth."
Vocabulary lists containing excite
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.
Another record quarter for Nvidia failed to excite investors, plus there was a slew of news about blockbuster IPOs from SpaceX and OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
The company also announced around 4,000 job cuts but it’s the AI orders that are likely to excite the market the most.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
Few of the possible candidates have the potential to excite Black voters the way Harris does, he said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026
That’s despite the company’s efforts to excite investors by broadening its business through partnerships and embracing new technology.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
The secretary of war, Henry Knox, also followed the public feuding, and wrote: “The different opinions of the treatment excite great inquietude—But Rush bears down all before him.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
