enthusiast

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ənˈθuziˌɪst/ UK /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/ See IPA manual

Freq #25790

Meanings

1

noun
A person who is very interested in and excited about a particular activity or subject.

The festival attracts film enthusiasts from all over the country.
2

noun
A keen and dedicated supporter of a person, cause, or activity.

He is a lifelong enthusiast for classical music.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is very... aficionado fancier

2 noun · a keen and dedicated... partisan

More addict amateur buff devotee fan fiend freakjunkiemaniac votary

Word family

Forms enthusiasts

Derived forms enthusiastlynonenthusiastpenthusiast

Related forms enthuse enthusiasm enthusiastic

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιαστής (enthousiastḗs, “an enthusiast, a zealot”), from ἐνθουσιάζειν (enthousiázein, “(intransitive) be inspired or possessed by a god, be rapt, be in ecstasy, (transitive) inspire”): see enthusiasm.

ἐνθουσιαστής Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# enthusiast

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ənˈθuziˌɪst/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/
**Frequency rank:** 25790

## Meanings
1. A person who is very interested in and excited about a particular activity or subject.
2. A keen and dedicated supporter of a person, cause, or activity.

## Examples
- The festival attracts film enthusiasts from all over the country.
- He is a lifelong enthusiast for classical music.

## Synonyms
- addict
- aficionado
- amateur
- buff
- devotee
- fan
- fancier
- fiend
- freak
- junkie
- maniac
- votary

## Derived Forms
- enthusiastly
- nonenthusiast
- penthusiast

## Related Forms
- enthuse
- enthusiasm
- enthusiastic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ἐνθουσιαστής

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιαστής (enthousiastḗs, “an enthusiast, a zealot”), from ἐνθουσιάζειν (enthousiázein, “(intransitive) be inspired or possessed by a god, be rapt, be in ecstasy, (transitive) inspire”): see enthusiasm.

## AI Etymology
Enthusiast comes from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιαστής (enthousiastḗs, “an enthusiast, a zealot”), from ἐνθουσιάζειν (enthousiázein, “(intransitive) be inspired or possessed by a god, be rapt, be in ecstasy, (transitive) inspire”): see enthusiasm. In current use, the main senses are “A person who is very interested in and excited about a particular activity or subject” and “A keen and dedicated supporter of a person, cause, or activity”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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