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excitable

excitable

14 4.1
Quick to become excited or nervous
  • adjective
  • /ɪkˈsaɪtəbl/
translation icon : excitable
  • I'm a pretty excitable person.

All right, first of all, who thinks an overly excitable young dog is going to calm down on a pheasant hunt with other dogs?

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Examples

  • Try not to be quite so excitable, for heaven's sake.

  • The dog became excitable whenever someone rang the doorbell.

  • Yeah, I did, because I was new and excitable and I was like, yeah, sure.

  • People are a lot more... excitable than in the country.

  • Is he excitable or fairly calm?

  • Quite an excitable boy, isn't he?

  • Still, at thirty-four, she is excitable, eager to speak, and quick to laugh.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • He's just a little excitable, that's all.

  • The mare was an excitable animal; she belonged to Uncle Stefano, my mother's brother.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Julio, the handyman, was his usual garrulous and excitable self.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

hyperexcitable
vsexcitable
8.1

Easily excited and likely to react strongly to small sounds or activity

react easily but with normal not excessive intensity
overexcitable
vsexcitable
6.2

To become easily excited and react strongly to small things

react easily but without overreaction to small events

Antonyms

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

Calm and not easily made nervous or emotional

Compounds

excitable area
  • Specialized
8.6

A part of the outer brain that reacts to stimulation and controls movement

How Excitable

high-strung
12 7.2
excitable
14 4.1
responsive
61 4.0
steady
186 1.3
calm
735 1.0

Surface Forms

excitable positive

Morphology

excitable = excite (transparent) = excite + able

Standard adjectival formation from the verb 'excite' with '-able', yielding 'capable of being excited', which is directly inferable by learners.

Etymology

Excitable comes from Latin parts ex- 'out' and citare 'to move or call', and is related to the verb excite. The old idea of 'stirring up' explains the modern meaning: an excitable person or thing is easy to stir or make very emotional.