agog

1 of 2

adjective

ə-ˈgäg 

1

: full of intense interest or excitement : eager

"… That was the year the Twilight movie was going to come out, and the kids were agog with all things vampire. …"

—Shelley Dorrill

"… There goes Mrs. Tony now, all agog to spread such a delectable bit of gossip."

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

2

a

: wide open : agape

His talent [as a painter] is so enormous that you look at his surfaces with your mouth agog at the near-impossibility of it all.

—Murray Whyte

b

: full of wonder or surprise : astonished

Jones … fired a strike to a waiting receiver that left his coaches agog.

—MK Bower

3

a

: full of lively activity : bustling

In the evenings … the streets … were agog with life.

—Meridel Le Sueur

b

: abundantly filled : replete

His lyrics are agog with images that manage to be poetic and earthy at the same time …

—Daisann McLane

agog

2 of 2

adverb

: in an excited or astonished manner

… he posed for photographs with rugby fans of all ages, before playing with the 39 youths who were staring agog at their idol.

—New Ross (Ireland) Echo

Did you know?

English speakers have been clamoring over the word agog for over 450 years. The word probably derives from the Middle French phrase en gogues, but the semantic link between en gogues (meaning "in a state of mirth") and the earliest English uses of agog, which exist in the phrase "to set agog" ("to excite, stimulate, make eager"), are not entirely clear. The -gog part of the word might make one wonder if agog has a connection to the verb goggle, meaning "to stare with wide or protuberant eyes," as in the manner of one who is intensely excited about something. That word actually has a different origin: the Middle English gogelen, meaning "to squint." In many instances, agog is followed by a preposition, such as over or about.

Synonyms

Adjective

• agape
• anticipant
• anticipatory
• expectant

Examples of agog in a Sentence

Adjective

The news has chemists agog.

Her supporters were agog at the idea.

The town is agog over the plan.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The world may have been agog at that near-miss, replaying every wrinkle in the story, but the R.N.C. is not the world. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024

In a recent gathering on the margins of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Microsoft executives sat agog as women parliamentarians from Africa, Europe, and Latin America described the vicious threats that arrive in their inboxes several times every hour. —Linda Robinson, Foreign Affairs, 3 July 2024

Adverb

The humble salad may just be leaving diners agog because they’re not used to paying so much for some dressed greens with a simple protein. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

probably borrowed from Middle French en gogues "in good humor, mirthful," from en "in" + gogues, plural of gogue "good humor, joking, pleasantry, mockery," going back to a Gallo-Romance expressive base *gog-

Note: Though Middle French en gogues is phonetically a plausible source of agog, the semantic link is not entirely clear. English examples from the 16th and 17th centuries are all for set agog, "to excite, stimulate, make eager," though this is not at all the sense of en gogues, and there is no comparable French mettre en gogues in any sense.

First Known Use

Adjective

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1663, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing agog

• all agog

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Kids Definition

agog

adjective

ə-ˈgäg 

: full of interest or excitement

kids all agog over new toys