Choose the Right Synonym for eager

eager, avid, keen, anxious, athirst mean moved by a strong and urgent desire or interest. eager implies ardor and enthusiasm and sometimes impatience at delay or restraint. eager to get started avid adds to eager the implication of insatiability or greed. avid for new thrills keen suggests intensity of interest and quick responsiveness in action. keen on the latest fashions anxious emphasizes fear of frustration or failure or disappointment. anxious not to make a social blunder athirst stresses yearning but not necessarily readiness for action. athirst for adventure

Examples of eager in a Sentence

… wine connoisseurs eager to visit cellars and late-fall pilgrims seeking the increasingly rare white truffle … — Corby Kummer, Atlantic, August 2000 … so many religions were steeped in an absolutist frame of mind—each convinced that it alone had a monopoly on the truth and therefore eager for the state to impose this truth on others. — Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996 She was eager to get started. The crowd was eager for more.

Recent Examples on the Web By now, this historic effort has captured the vaccine-hungry individuals who are eager, well-resourced, technologically savvy, and excited to get vaccinated. — Stefanie Friedhoff, STAT, "Vaccinations are plateauing. Don’t blame it on ‘resistance’," 29 Apr. 2021 Aware of its transgressions and eager to restore the Civic to its place at the top of the compact-car heap, Honda made quick reparations for the 2013 model year. — Andrew Wendler, Car and Driver, "A Visual History of the Honda Civic," 29 Apr. 2021 Some officials have also expressed concern that the number of Californians who are ready and eager to roll up their sleeves may be dwindling, meaning providers would have to focus on persuading those who are on the fence to get vaccinated. — Luke Money, Los Angeles Times, "L.A.’s remarkable achievement: Rapid economic reopening as COVID-19 fades fast," 28 Apr. 2021 Commercial banks are now in good shape and eager to lend, in contrast to their crippled state in 2009. — Mickey D. Levy And Michael D. Bordo, WSJ, "The Fed in the Sand as Inflation Threatens," 26 Apr. 2021 Some candidates eager to receive the ex-president's endorsement are declining to call out Trump on his election claims. — Alex Rogers, CNN, "Trump's effort to overturn loss becomes 2022 GOP litmus test in key Senate races," 26 Apr. 2021 Men, women, high school, college or professional player, Kelsey was always eager and ready to play basketball. — Akeem Glaspie, The Indianapolis Star, "How Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell developed into one of the best scorers in the WNBA," 24 Apr. 2021 Innovative and eager to conserve scarce resources, the Spanish Cubist painter Pablo Picasso was no stranger to experimenting with unconventional materials. — Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, "Why Did This Picasso Painting Deteriorate Faster Than Its Peers?," 22 Apr. 2021 Bernie Madoff is dead, but plenty of con artists around the world are still thriving — and eager to steal your money. — Washington Post, "Ponzi king’s death is a reminder that his con-artist tricks live on," 20 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eager.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

1 May 2021

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“Eager.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eager. Accessed 8 May. 2021.

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Choose the Right Synonym for eager

eager, anxious, and keen mean having or showing a strong desire or interest. eager is used when there is much enthusiasm and often impatience. Eager travelers waited for their train. anxious is used when there is fear of failure or disappointment. I was anxious to learn who won. keen is used when there is great interest and readiness to act. The new scouts are keen to learn.