# ecstatic

/ɛkˈstætɪk/ (US) · /ɛkstˈætɪk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/ecstatic
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. extremely happy

adjective · CEFR B2

feeling or showing great happiness or excitement.

For teachers: feeling or expressing overwhelming happiness or joyful excitement.

- The fans were ecstatic when their team scored the winning goal in the final minute.
- The researchers were ecstatic after the clinical trial results confirmed their hypothesis, potentially paving the way for a new treatment.

Usage: Often followed by the preposition 'about' or 'at', or by a 'that' clause.

Teaching tip: While 'happy' is a general emotion, 'ecstatic' implies a peak experience that is difficult to maintain for long periods.

### 2. trance-like joy

adjective · CEFR C1 · Literary

relating to a state of very strong emotion that makes you lose control of yourself.

For teachers: relating to, or characterized by, a state of mystical or psychological rapture.

- The poet described an ecstatic vision of nature that changed his life.
- The ceremony reached its climax with an ecstatic dance, where participants appeared to lose all sense of their surroundings.

Teaching tip: This sense is more common in literature, philosophy, or religious contexts than in everyday conversation.

### 3. a person in rapture

noun · CEFR C2 · Formal · Technical

a person who is in a state of extreme joy or a religious trance.

For teachers: a person experiencing a state of ecstasy, often in a spiritual or mystical context.

- The painting shows a group of ecstatics looking up at the sky.
- The historian studied the lives of medieval ecstatics who claimed to have direct communications with the divine.

Usage: Usually functions as a countable noun.

Teaching tip: This noun use is rare; learners will almost always encounter the word as an adjective.

## Examples

- She was ecstatic when she heard the good news.
- The fans were ecstatic after their team scored the winning goal in the final minute of the game.
- While the investors were ecstatic about the quarterly profits, the CEO remained cautious, noting that such rapid growth might not be sustainable in the long term.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.