excite

[ ik-sahyt ]

/ ɪkˈsaɪt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: excite / excited / excites / exciting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ex·cit·ed, ex·cit·ing.

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.

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR excite

1 stir, awaken, stimulate, animate, kindle, inflame.

2 evoke.

4 disturb, agitate, ruffle.

See synonyms for excite on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of excite

1300–50; Middle English <Latin excitāre, equivalent to ex-ex-¹ + citāre, frequentative of ciēre to set in motion

OTHER WORDS FROM excite

pre·ex·cite, verb (used with object), pre·ex·cit·ed, pre·ex·cit·ing.

Words nearby excite

excitant, excitation, excitation wave, excitative, excitatory postsynaptic potential, excite, excited, excited state, excitement, exciter, exciter lamp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use excite in a sentence

Selin is at first excited by math when she has the idea that it’s a language of pure signs, where there is no space at all between signifier and signified because they’re the same thing.
The true love story in Elif Batuman’s The Idiot is a love affair with language|Constance Grady|September 11, 2020|Vox
Parents want their children to be excited and inspired, not bullied or devalued.
Our Public Schools Have a Customer Service Problem|Thomas Courtney|September 10, 2020|Voice of San Diego
There’s always a chance developers have a bias towards a technology that they’re comfortable with, or excited to be using.
Power SEO Friendly Markup With HTML5, CSS3, And Javascript|Detlef Johnson|August 20, 2020|Search Engine Land
For my own work, I’m excited at the prospect of concentrating more on the artistic vision and execution and less on triangle counts.
Epic Games’ Insane Video Game Graphics Demo Explained in Simple Terms|Aaron Frank|May 24, 2020|Singularity Hub

The green stripes are caused when a downpour of electrons excites oxygen atoms.
Newfound ‘dunes’ is among weirdest of northern lights|Maria Temming|March 9, 2020|Science News For Students
They excite people, and primaries tend to be dominated by voters who are the most excited.
The Devil in Mike Huckabee|Dean Obeidallah|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sticks and stones may break my bones / but chains and whips excite me.
Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix|Justin Jones|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Condon is proud to be different, to work on the projects that excite him.
Can Condon's Freak Show Win Broadway?|Tim Teeman|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Contact tracing” sounds like something that would excite only the grimmest of health-care operations implementation scientists.
Doctors Without Borders Hits Ebola Breaking Point|Abby Haglage, Kent Sepkowitz|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Aurora Snow canvassed the adult industry to see which television shows excite its XXX talent.
What Porn Stars Find Sexy on TV: From ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘Deadliest Catch’|Aurora Snow|September 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When he came out on the stage the applause was tremendous, and enough in itself to excite and electrify one.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
But the observation he thoughtlessly uttered in French seemed to excite the peasant's attention.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
If a merry dance is produced by the agile bow, its sympathetic tones at once excite a corresponding feeling.
Violins and Violin Makers|Joseph Pearce
We don't even have real big prizes—just a dinky little spoon sitting up on the mantel-piece to excite us as if it was a tiara.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
The man called Shiv was driving Delancy's get-away car at a conservative pace so as not to excite suspicion.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for excite

excite

/ (ɪkˈsaɪt) /

verb (tr)

to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation

to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evokeher answers excited curiosity

to cause or bring about; stir upto 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

Word Origin for excite

C14: from Latin excitāre, from exciēre to stimulate, from ciēre to set in motion, rouse

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

excite

OTHER WORDS FOR excite

Origin of excite

OTHER WORDS FROM excite

Words nearby excite

Words related to excite

How to use excite in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for excite

Word Origin for excite