Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
eager - 9 dictionary results
ea⋅ger
1
[ee-ger] 
–adjective
| 1. | keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing: I am eager for news about them. He is eager to sing. |
| 2. | characterized by or revealing great earnestness: an eager look. |
| 3. | Obsolete. keen; sharp; biting. |
Origin:
1250–1300; ME egre < AF, OF egre, aigre < VL *ācrus for L ācer sharp
1250–1300; ME egre < AF, OF egre, aigre < VL *ācrus for L ācer sharp
Related forms:
ea⋅ger⋅ly, adverb
ea⋅ger⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. enthusiastic, desirous. See avid. 2. fervent, zealous, fervid, intent, intense, earnest.
1. enthusiastic, desirous. See avid. 2. fervent, zealous, fervid, intent, intense, earnest.
Antonyms:
1, 2. indifferent, uninterested. 2. heedless.
1, 2. indifferent, uninterested. 2. heedless.
ea⋅gre
[ee-ger, ey-ger] –noun Chiefly British.
| a tidal bore or flood. |
Also, eager.
Origin:
1640–50; appar. repr. earlier agar, ager, obscurely akin to hyger, higre; (cf. AL (12th century) higra the tidal bore of the Severn); compared with OE ēgor, eogor flood, high tide, though preservation of g in modern forms is problematic
1640–50; appar. repr. earlier agar, ager, obscurely akin to hyger, higre; (cf. AL (12th century) higra the tidal bore of the Severn); compared with OE ēgor, eogor flood, high tide, though preservation of g in modern forms is problematic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To eager
| ea·ger 1 (ē'gər) adj. ea·ger·er, ea·ger·est
[Middle English eger, sour, sharp, impetuous, from Anglo-Norman egre, from Latin ācer; see ak- in Indo-European roots.] ea'ger·ly adv., ea'ger·ness n. |
| ea·ger 2 (ē'gər, ā'gər) n. Variant of eagre. |
| ea·gre also ea·ger (ē'gər, ā'gər) n. See bore3. [Origin unknown.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Eager
Ea"ger\, a. [OE. egre sharp, sour, eager, OF. agre, aigre, F. aigre, fr. L. acer sharp, sour, spirited, zealous; akin to Gr. ? highest, extreme, Skr. a?ra point; fr. a root signifying to be sharp. Cf. Acrid, Edge.]1. Sharp; sour; acid. [Obs.] "Like eager droppings into milk." --Shak. 2. Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. [Obs.] "A nipping and an eager air." "Eager words." --Shak. 3. Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement; as, the hounds were eager in the chase. And gazed for tidings in my eager eyes. --Shak. How eagerly ye follow my disgraces! --Shak. When to her eager lips is brought Her infant's thrilling kiss. --Keble. A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys. --Hawthorne. Conceit and grief an eager combat fight. --Shak. 4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.] Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself. --Locke. Syn: Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent; intense; impassioned; zealous; forward. Usage: See Earnest. -- Eager, Earnest. Eager marks an excited state of desire or passion; thus, a child is eager for a plaything, a hungry man is eager for food, a covetous man is eager for gain. Eagerness is liable to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case may be. It relates to what is praiseworthy or the contrary. Earnest denotes a permanent state of mind, feeling, or sentiment. It is always taken in a good sense; as, a preacher is earnest in his appeals to the conscience; an agent is earnest in his solicitations.Eager
Ea"ger\, n. Same as Eagre.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : eager
Spanish:
ávido, ansioso, deseoso,
German:
eifrig,
Japanese:
～したがる
eager
1297, from O.Fr. aigre, from V.L. *acrus, from L. acer (gen. acris) "keen, sharp" (see acrid). The Eng. word kept an alternate meaning of "pungent, sharp-edged" till 19c. (e.g. Shakespeare's "The bitter clamour of two eager tongues," in "Richard II").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
