febrile excitement
- noun
- /ˈfiːbraɪl ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/
- Formal
:
emoción febril
- There was a sense of febrile excitement in the air as election results began to come in.
Examples
-
The news of her promotion sent waves of febrile excitement through the entire department.
-
His febrile excitement over the project sometimes bordered on obsession.
-
The crowd was filled with febrile excitement during the concert.
-
After the announcement, there was a wave of febrile excitement among the fans.
-
The crowd was filled with febrile excitement during the concert.
-
There was a sense of febrile excitement in the air as election results began to come in.
-
The news of her promotion sent waves of febrile excitement through the entire department.
Synonyms
434
1.0
A strong feeling of happiness and eagerness, or something that causes it
82
6.1
An extreme, uncontrolled feeling of fear or excitement
70
6.6
A time of very strong excitement and busy activity
8
5.3
A time when people feel very strong excitement together
1
3.1
A strong feeling of joy and energy that makes you unable to sit still
1
6.0
A strong feeling of worry that makes people act very quickly
A state of strong excitement and restless activity
A strong feeling of excitement and nervous energy among people
Very strong excitement that goes too far and is not reasonable
Antonyms
How Excited
136
4.9
- Formal
288
2.2
434
1.0
318
2.2
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is transparently compositional: 'febrile' (feverish) modifies 'excitement', so the meaning 'feverish/intense enthusiasm or agitation' is directly derivable from the constituents. This adjective+noun pattern is common and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase febrile excitement comes from the word febrile, meaning 'feverish', and the word excitement. Picture someone with a fever who is hot, restless and full of fast energy, and you can see why the phrase means a very strong, nervous kind of 'enthusiasm'.