Definition of EAGERNESS

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

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.

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

When the economy was struggling, employers became accustomed to inboxes flooded with résumés and snaking lines of eager applicants. — Patricia Cohen, BostonGlobe.com, "Paychecks lag as profits soar, and prices erode wage gains," 14 July 2018 But there was a problem: Thousands of eager parents and children resulted in long lines in malls across the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. — Dwight Adams, Indianapolis Star, "Shut out of Build-a-Bear Pay Your Age Day? Try this birthday month deal instead.," 12 July 2018 Such nontariff trade barriers run afoul of international rules, and repel foreign capital that Beijing is eager to attract. — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "After Trump’s New Tariff Threat, China Seeks Strategy for Retaliation," 11 July 2018 Informality was the rule, gravity the keynote in the Rhea county courthouse where the testing of the state anti-evolution law began in an auditorium packed with eager spectators. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "July 11, 1925: Scopes trial begins," 11 July 2018 That recommendation then carried great weight with a president eager to leave his mark on the nation’s judiciary. — Matt Ford, The New Republic, "Did Anthony Kennedy make a deal with Trump?," 10 July 2018 Malik has been dropping hints that the follow-up to his 2016 solo debut, Mind of Mine, will be hitting the earbuds of eager fans sooner vs. later. — Hilary Hughes, Billboard, "Zayn Malik Covers Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling in Love': Listen," 8 July 2018 Or are both couples just uber in love and eager to settle down? — refinery29.com, "Justin Bieber & Ariana Grande’s Engagements Start Conspiracy Theory: Their Manager Made Them," 8 July 2018 Conservative justices agree — and then some In rare moves, conservative justices eager to be out front on this case that Justice Daniel Kelly wrote not only the majority opinion siding with McAdams, but then a separate concurrence with himself. — Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Marquette professor John McAdams prevails: Five takeaways from Wisconsin Supreme Court decision," 6 July 2018

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.