fanatical
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does fanatical mean? Fanatical means having and being motivated by an extreme and often unquestioning enthusiasm, devotion, or zeal for something, such as a religion, political stance, or cause. A person who shows such extreme enthusiasm or devotion is called a fanatic. Sometimes, fanatic is used negatively to imply that someone takes such devotion too far, as in They’re considered religious fanatics due to their extreme practices. Close synonyms are extremist, radical, and zealot. Other times, fanatic is not used negatively but instead simply refers to someone who is extreme in their devotion or enthusiasm for an interest or hobby. For example, calling someone a sports fanatic means they’re an extremely enthusiastic fan of sports. In fact, the word fan is a shortening of fanatic. Fanatical can be used to describe either a kind of fanatic or such a person’s beliefs or behavior. Example: We dismiss these extreme beliefs by calling them fanatical, but they may be more widespread than we think.
Synonym Usage
See intolerant, radical.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fanatical
Explanation
If you are excessively enthusiastic about something — a sports team, an actor, your religion, saving the whales, a certain brand of chocolate — then you are fanatical about it. Fanatical comes from the word fanatic, which itself came from the Latin fanaticus, meaning "mad" or "inspired by a deity." The root word is fanum, or "temple." The original English meanings of both fanatic and fanatical implied that the person being described was insane with enthusiasm, like a religious zealot. The word fan is likely shortened from fanatic, and thus shares the same roots, but that word doesn't imply the same obsessiveness that fanatical does.
Vocabulary lists containing fanatical
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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The Bean Trees
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 34
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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.
He is fanatical about keeping himself in prime physical condition, with a regimen that blends new-age techniques and the wisdom of the fjords.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Residents of Amami-Oshima carry a strain of pacifism rooted in that painful wartime legacy, in which islanders felt they were abandoned to their fate by fanatical generals in distant Tokyo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
He struck me then as fanatical, dangerously so.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
To all but his most fanatical followers, it’s clear he possesses a megalomaniacal personality and violent temperament.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026
At dinner Pearl talked about the Richardsons as if they were a TV show she was fanatical about.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
