excite
Americanverb (used with object)
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excites,
present (3rd person singular)
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excited,
past participle, past
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exciting
present participle
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to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of.
to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father's wrath.
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to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings).
to excite jealousy or hatred.
- Synonyms:
- evoke
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to cause; awaken.
to excite interest or curiosity.
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to stir to action; provoke or stir up.
to excite a dog by baiting him.
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Physiology. to stimulate.
to excite a nerve.
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Electricity. to supply with electricity for producing electric activity or a magnetic field.
to excite a dynamo.
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Physics. to raise (an atom, molecule, etc.) to an excited state.
verb
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to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation
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to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evoke
her answers excited curiosity
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to cause or bring about; stir up
to excite a rebellion
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to arouse sexually
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physiol to cause a response in or increase the activity of (an organ, tissue, or part); stimulate
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to raise (an atom, molecule, electron, nucleus, etc) from the ground state to a higher energy level
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to supply electricity to (the coils of a generator or motor) in order to create a magnetic field
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to supply a signal to a stage of an active electronic circuit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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excitesimple
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excitessimple
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have excitedperfect
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has excitedperfect
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am excitingprogressive
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are excitingprogressive
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is excitingprogressive
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have been excitingperfect progressive
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has been excitingperfect progressive
Past
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excitedsimple
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had excitedperfect
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was excitingprogressive
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were excitingprogressive
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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.
See Examples For:
WSJ: In this overcrowded market for self-care products, it’s tough for an older brand to excite younger shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
Occasionally find things that excite and motivate them and will take risks when others in power support them.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Now, when he meets younger fans and budding filmmakers, their enthusiasm excites him, though it seems to cause him some consternation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I was a No. 10, what excites me is scoring goals…I was a leader on the pitch, and I’ll be a leader through what I’ve achieved.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The key to the style of campaigning that won out on Tuesday, according to Andrabi, is having a vision for what politics can deliver that excites people.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
But here’s what excites me most about the brave new world of mathematics the A.I. industry has us careening toward: We will have a much sharper sense of what the truly difficult problems are.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
He is short and very charming, and when he talks about something that excites him—which is nearly all the time—his eyes light up and open even wider.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
"It's the best film for that market and it's the coolest festival so we're very excited about it."
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
After he catches a pass, he looks up and gets excited if there’s a defender nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"It's the product of years of work by a dedicated, international team of astronomers. We're excited to share DR20 with the world and see what the community discovers with it."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
He was excited and cheerful and willing to share his opinions.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Nim felt excited and brave and a tiny bit afraid, but the second chapter of Mountain Madness was even more exciting than the first, and she thought about the hero till she went to sleep.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
"It's so exciting, we were talking about it yesterday about how we'd love to get a gold," Donnelly said.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Here are the new targets that are exciting Wall Street.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Riley said it has been exciting to have Rob Ryan return for a second year to be the assistant head coach for the defense, working alongside Patterson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"This is exciting new evidence that something catastrophic happened at Neptune that completely destroyed its original satellites, and we're getting to see the fingerprints left behind by that process."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Courtney seemed so excited at the exciting parts, too.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
