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4 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Enthusiasm \En*thu"si*asm\, noun [Gr. ?, fr. ? to be inspired or possessed by the god, fr. ?, ?, inspired: cf. enthousiasme. See {Entheal}, {Theism}.]
1. Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; ecstasy; hence, a conceit of divine possession and revelation, or of being directly subject to some divine impulse.
Enthusiasm is founded neither on reason nor divine revelation, but rises from the conceits of a warmed or overweening imagination. --Locke.
2. A state of impassioned emotion; transport; elevation of fancy; exaltation of soul; as, the poetry of enthusiasm.
Resolutions adopted in enthusiasm are often repented of when excitement has been succeeded by the wearing duties of hard everyday routine. --Froude.
Exhibiting the seeming contradiction of susceptibility to enthusiasm and calculating shrewdness. --Bancroft.
3. Enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; strong excitement of feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject; ardent and imaginative zeal or interest; as, he engaged in his profession with enthusiasm.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. --Emerson.
4. Lively manifestation of joy or zeal.
Philip was greeted with a tumultuous enthusiasm. --Prescott.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
enthusiasm
noun
1: a feeling of excitement
2: overflowing with enthusiasm [syn: {exuberance}, {ebullience}]
3: a lively interest; "enthusiasm for his program is growing"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
103 Moby Thesaurus words for "enthusiasm": acquiescence, activity, agreeability, agreeableness, alacrity, amenability, amusement, animation, ardency, ardor, avidity, brio, briskness, bug, calenture, cathexis, cheerful consent, compliance, concern, concernment, consent, cooperativeness, craze, crazy fancy, curiosity, devotedness, devotion, diversion, docility, eagerness, earnest, earnestness, ebullience, elan, enthusiasticalness, excitement, exuberance, fad, fanaticism, fascination, favorable disposition, favorableness, fervency, fervor, fieriness, fire, forwardness, furor, furore, gameness, glow, goodwill, gusto, hobby, hurrah, impassionedness, impetuosity, impetus, infatuation, interest, joie de vivre, keenness, life, liveliness, lustiness, mania, manic-depressive psychosis, matter of interest, mettle, passion, pastime, perkiness, pertness, pliability, pliancy, promptness, rage, readiness, receptive mood, receptiveness, receptivity, relish, responsiveness, right mood, robustness, special interest, spirit, spiritedness, tractability, ungrudgingness, unloathness, unreluctance, vehemence, vivacity, warmth, willing ear, willing heart, willingness, zeal, zealousness, zest, zestfulness, zing
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
ENTHUSIASM, noun A distemper of youth, curable by small doses of repentance in connection with outward applications of experience. Byron, who recovered long enough to call it "entuzy-muzy," had a relapse, which carried him off -- to Missolonghi.
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