Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Greek
Origin: enthousiasmos, from entheos 'filled (by a god) with sudden strong abilities', from theos 'god'

enthusiasm

 noun
     
en‧thu‧si‧as‧m W3
1 [uncountable] a strong feeling of interest and enjoyment about something and an eagerness to be involved in itCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
with enthusiasm great/much/considerable/enormous enthusiasm little enthusiasm lack of enthusiasm full of enthusiasm (=very enthusiastic) show (great/considerable/little) enthusiasm lose enthusiasm share somebody's enthusiasm fire somebody with enthusiasm (=make them very enthusiastic) generate enthusiasm (=make people enthusiastic) dampen somebody's enthusiasm (=make them less enthusiastic) boundless/unbounded enthusiasm (=great enthusiasm)
Gillian and Darren greeted the speakers with great enthusiasm.
We went along to the local diving club, full of enthusiasm.
They go about their tasks with little enthusiasm.
enthusiasm for
Britain's apparent lack of enthusiasm for such a scheme
Employers showed little enthusiasm for the new regulations.
He shares your enthusiasm for jazz.
I left university fired with enthusiasm for work.
A delay of two hours did not dampen their enthusiasm.
2 [countable] formal an activity or subject that someone is very interested in
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary