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excited

[ik-sahy-tid]
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adjective
  1. stirred emotionally; agitated: An excited crowd awaited the arrival of the famed rock group.
  2. stimulated to activity; brisk: an excited buying and selling of stocks.
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Origin of excited

First recorded in 1650–60; excite + -ed2
Related formsex·cit·ed·ly, adverbex·cit·ed·ness, nounhy·per·ex·cit·ed, adjectivesu·per·ex·cit·ed, adjectiveun·ex·cit·ed, adjective
Can be confusedexcited exited

Synonyms

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1. ruffled, discomposed, stormy, perturbed, impassioned. 2. eager, active, enthusiastic.

excite

[ik-sahyt]
verb (used with object), ex·cit·ed, ex·cit·ing.
  1. to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of: to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father's wrath.
  2. to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings): to excite jealousy or hatred.
  3. to cause; awaken: to excite interest or curiosity.
  4. to stir to action; provoke or stir up: to excite a dog by baiting him.
  5. Physiology. to stimulate: to excite a nerve.
  6. Electricity. to supply with electricity for producing electric activity or a magnetic field: to excite a dynamo.
  7. Physics. to raise (an atom, molecule, etc.) to an excited state.
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Origin of excite

1300–50; Middle English < Latin excitāre, equivalent to ex- ex-1 + citāre, frequentative of ciēre to set in motion
Related formspre·ex·cite, verb (used with object), pre·ex·cit·ed, pre·ex·cit·ing.

Synonyms

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1. stir, awaken, stimulate, animate, kindle, inflame. 2. evoke. 4. disturb, agitate, ruffle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

nervous, enthusiastic, delighted, eager, disturbed, agitated, passionate, hysterical, annoyed, thrilled, moved, disconcerted, inflamed, provoked, stimulated, wired, animated, charged, stirred, ruffled

Examples from the Web for excited

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The box was passed from hand to hand, and excited universal admiration.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Milza endeavoured, in her own artless way, to soothe the distress her words had excited.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • This so excited the admiration of Speusippus, that a love of philosophy was kindled within him.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • It seems impossible now, but I was excited even about the dinner.

  • They told me to lie quietly in bed this morning, but I'm not tired, not excited.

British Dictionary definitions for excited

excited

adjective
  1. emotionally aroused, esp to pleasure or agitation
  2. characterized by excitementan excited dance
  3. sexually aroused
  4. (of an atom, molecule, etc) occupying an energy level above the ground state
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Derived Formsexcitedly, adverbexcitedness, noun

excite

verb (tr)
  1. to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation
  2. to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evokeher answers excited curiosity
  3. to cause or bring about; stir upto excite a rebellion
  4. to arouse sexually
  5. physiol to cause a response in or increase the activity of (an organ, tissue, or part); stimulate
  6. to raise (an atom, molecule, electron, nucleus, etc) from the ground state to a higher energy level
  7. to supply electricity to (the coils of a generator or motor) in order to create a magnetic field
  8. to supply a signal to a stage of an active electronic circuit
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Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for excited

adj.

1650s, "magnetically or electrically stimulated;" modern sense of "agitated" attested 1855; past participle adjective from excite. Related: Excitedly.

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excite

v.

mid-14c., "to move, stir up, instigate," from Old French esciter (12c.) or directly from Latin excitare "rouse, call out, summon forth, produce," frequentative of exciere "call forth, instigate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + ciere "set in motion, call" (see cite). Of feelings, from late 14c. Of bodily organs or tissues, from 1831. Main modern sense of "emotionally agitate" is first attested 1821.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper