excite
- 01 B1 Intermediate
to make someone feel very happy, interested, or eager.
to arouse strong feelings of enthusiasm, anticipation, or pleasure in a person.
Simple“The news about the holiday trip really excited the children.”
In context“The prospect of working on a high-profile international project excited the young architect, who had long sought such an opportunity.”
PitfallThe movie was very excited. The movie was very exciting.Use 'exciting' to describe the thing that causes the feeling, and 'excited' to describe the person who feels it.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to cause a particular feeling or reaction in people.
to elicit or provoke a specific response, interest, or emotion.
Simple“The new book excited a lot of interest among local historians.”
In context“The discovery of the ancient ruins excited considerable debate among archaeologists regarding the true age of the settlement.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
to give energy to a particle, like an electron, so it moves to a higher level.
to cause an atom or molecule to transition to a higher energy state, typically by the absorption of a photon.
Simple“The laser is used to excite the atoms in the gas chamber.”
In context“When the incoming radiation excites the electrons, they jump to a higher orbital before eventually releasing energy as light.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
to pass an electric current through a coil to create a magnetic field.
to supply an electric current to the windings of an electromagnet or generator to produce a magnetic flux.
Simple“The technician had to excite the magnetic coils before the machine could start.”
In context“The generator's field coils must be excited by a direct current to establish the magnetic field necessary for power production.”
From Middle English exciten, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitō (“to call out, call forth, arouse, wake up, stimulate”), frequentative of excieō (“to call out, arouse, excite”), from ex (“out”) + cieō (“to call, summon”). See cite and compare to accite, concite, incite.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.