eagerly

adjective

keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing: I am eager for news about them. He is eager to sing.

characterized by or revealing great earnestness: an eager look.

Obsolete. keen; sharp; biting.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English egre < Anglo-French, Old French egre, aigre < Vulgar Latin *ācrus for Latin 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.

Antonyms
1, 2. indifferent, uninterested. 2. heedless.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Relevant Questions

What Is Eager?

00:10

Eagerly is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

eager¹ (ˈiːɡə)

—*adj*
1.	(postpositive; often foll by to or for) impatiently desirous (of); anxious or avid (for): he was eager to see her departure
2.	characterized by or feeling expectancy or great desire: an eager look
3.	archaic tart or biting; sharp

[C13: from Old French egre, from Latin acer sharp, keen]

'eagerly¹

—*adv*

'eagerness¹

—n

eager¹ (ˈiːɡə)

—*adj*
1.	(postpositive; often foll by to or for) impatiently desirous (of); anxious or avid (for): he was eager to see her departure
2.	characterized by or feeling expectancy or great desire: an eager look
3.	archaic tart or biting; sharp

[C13: from Old French egre, from Latin acer sharp, keen]

'eagerly¹

—*adv*

'eagerness¹

—n

eager² (ˈeɪɡə)

—n
	a variant spelling of eagre

eagre or eager (ˈeɪɡə)

—n
	a tidal bore, esp of the Humber or Severn estuary

[C17: perhaps from Old English ēagor flood; compare Old English ēa river, water]

eager or eager

—n

[C17: perhaps from Old English ēagor flood; compare Old English ēa river, water]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

eager

c.1300, from O.Fr. aigre, from V.L. *acrus, from L. acer (gen. acris) "keen, sharp" (see acrid). The Eng. word kept an alternative meaning of "pungent, sharp-edged" till 19c. (e.g. Shakespeare's "The bitter clamour of two eager tongues," in "Richard II"). Related: Eagerly; eagerness.

Example sentences

Now it is one of a host of countries eagerly laying claim to swathes of the

seafloor that may one day yield huge riches.

Evidently the post is eagerly sought for when a vacancy occurs.

But during the cold war both superpowers conspired eagerly to eliminate people

they deemed undesirable.

Since then, energy industry watchers have eagerly waited to see where the

agency would put its chips.

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Matching Quote

"I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

-unknown author