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:
“That experience gave me more excitement to come back here and play with these guys,” Shaffelburg, 26, said after stepping off the training pitch last Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 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
In the U.K., where there hasn’t been a total solar eclipse since 1999 and another isn’t due until 2090, excitement had been building about Wednesday’s event, even though it was partial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 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
“And she is my sister too!” cried Karli, beside himself with excitement.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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
They are “something like but unlike critical interest, which has its own excitements but remains too often at the level of knowledge, analysis, conclusions, at worst the total boredom of having opinions.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2023
They’re challenging fare, for the excitements they generate and for the moral doubts they trigger.
From New York Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
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
He sat propped against a tree, watching the red sentries passing to and fro in the firelight, hearing their quiet passwords and thinking about the excitements of the day.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
