excitement
Americannoun
-
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
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.
But the candidates have — until recently — struggled to generate wide excitement, and it’s far from clear who will win.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
On the flip side, AI software firm C3.ai has given back all its gains after the 2023 excitement that propelled it to an almost fivefold gain in six months.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
There remains excitement in British tennis circles about the potential of teenagers Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman and Mimi Xu.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
The slew of Okta price target hikes, mostly due to Wall Street’s AI excitement, comes as analysts have already been overwhelmingly bullish on the stock.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
And yet under all the joy and excitement is the thought of my family, missing from our forest.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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.
