excitement
Americannoun
-
excitements
plural
-
an excited state or condition.
- Synonyms:
- ado, commotion, perturbation
- Antonyms:
- serenity
-
something that excites.
noun
-
the state of being excited
-
a person or thing that excites; stimulation or thrill
Synonym Usage
See agitation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of excitement
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English excitament, “encouragement,” from Medieval Latin excitāmentum; excite + -ment
Explanation
Excitement is a feeling or situation full of activity, joy, exhilaration, or upheaval. One thing about excitement — it sure isn't boring. There are a few types of excitement, but they're all exciting — they get your attention. If you can't wait for your birthday, you're feeling a happy kind of excitement. If everyone in class is screaming and throwing things, the teacher might ask, "What's all the excitement about?" A sleeping dog is resting — no excitement there. But a dog that’s jumping, barking, and running in circles when his owner comes home is feeling and causing a lot of excitement.
Vocabulary lists containing excitement
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 3
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-ment
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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:
There’s always a moment of excitement opening a pocket on a golf bag you have not opened in a long time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
“That said, volatility in user growth due to external factors is likely to temper some excitement on the shares in the near term.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
"The excitement makes me excited. I can't wait to step out there. It brings out the best in me," Hodgkinson added.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The same scenes of excitement played out on Barcelona's iconic Montjuic hill, where hundreds of people had arranged to meet to enjoy the event.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
But he loved the excitement and influx of new people that came with the tourist season too.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
In the memoir, Ms. Dunham traces the struggles of her adult life—fame, illness, addiction—with touching emphasis on the early tremulous excitements of becoming well-known: the affirmation, the freebies, the invitations to glittering events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Still, the era’s ecstasies are recaptured here by Janis’s own real-time excitements.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2019
The excitements begin amidst blowing dust in Mexico, where in a remote desert some fighter planes missing since World War II suddenly reappear, engines ready to go at the touch of a switch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2017
“It was a quiet little neighborhood that was in walking distance to city excitements like Georgetown and Dupont,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2017
She tried to see him through Aunty Ujus eyes, a man of wonders, a man of worldly excitements, but she could not.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
