excitable

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪkˈsaɪtəbəl/ UK /ɪkˈsaɪtəbəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
easily roused to strong emotion or activity

The excitable puppy spun in circles at the sight of the leash.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · easily roused to strong... volatile temperamental emotional nervousjumpyedgy skittish

Opposites

calm placid phlegmatic stolid unflappable

Word family

Derived forms excitabilityexcitableness

Related forms excite excitement excitation

Etymology

From excite + -able, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitare ('to call out, arouse'), from ex- ('out') + citare ('to set in motion'), frequentative of ciere ('to move').

excitare Latin ciere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# excitable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɪkˈsaɪtəbəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪkˈsaɪtəbəl/

## Meanings
1. easily roused to strong emotion or activity

## Examples
- The excitable puppy spun in circles at the sight of the leash.

## Synonyms
- volatile
- temperamental
- emotional
- nervous
- jumpy
- edgy
- skittish

## Antonyms
- calm
- placid
- phlegmatic
- stolid
- unflappable

## Derived Forms
- excitability
- excitableness

## Related Forms
- excite
- excitement
- excitation

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: excitare
- Root: ciere

## Etymology
From excite + -able, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitare ('to call out, arouse'), from ex- ('out') + citare ('to set in motion'), frequentative of ciere ('to move').

## AI Etymology
Excitable comes from excite + -able, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitare ('to call out, arouse'), from ex- ('out') + citare ('to set in motion'), frequentative of ciere ('to move'). Morphologically, the account is both compositional and suffixal: ex- and -able marks the visible structure by which the older base becomes the modern form. In present use, it is used as an adjective meaning "easily roused to strong emotion or activity", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as excitability and excitableness and related forms such as excite, excitement, and excitation, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin excitare and Latin ciere, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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