Did you know?

Ecstatic has been used in our language since the late 16th century, and the noun ecstasy is even older, dating from the 1300s. Both derive from the Greek verb existanai ("to put out of place"), which was used in a Greek phrase meaning "to drive someone out of his or her mind." That seems an appropriate history for words that can describe someone who is nearly out of their mind with intense emotion. In early use, ecstatic was sometimes linked to mystic trances, out-of-body experiences, and temporary madness. Today, however, it typically implies a state of enthusiastic excitement or intense happiness.

Examples of ecstatic in a Sentence

Adjective A few religious denominations—Pentecostalism, for example—still offer a collective ecstatic experience, as did rock culture at its height. But the ecstatic religions tend to be marginal, and rock has been tamed for commercial consumption … — Barbara Ehrenreich, Civilization, June/July 2000 … in dietary terms we are veritable troglodytes (which, speaking personally, is all right by me). I think this explains a lot, not least my expanding sense of dismay as the waiter bombarded us with ecstatic descriptions of roulades, ratatouilles, empanadas, langostinos … and goodness knows what else. — Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999 He was ecstatic when he heard that he was going to be a father. a football player who was ecstatic upon receiving a full athletic scholarship to the college of his choice

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Harvey, Prism's president emeritus, is ecstatic about the store’s potential. — La Risa R. Lynch, Journal Sentinel, 15 July 2022 Mountain Pointe coach Kaimarr Price is ecstatic about the Patton brothers joining his program. — Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 8 June 2022 Again, the massive population of GTX 1060 owners should be ecstatic about that news. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, 13 May 2022 Stone is ecstatic for Jill to start the next chapter of her life. — Amethyst Tate, PEOPLE.com, 13 July 2022 The NIRCam team was ecstatic when the first light image arrived. — al, 10 July 2022 The 14-minute piece, in which the player presides over a sprawling array, came across as a strikingly modern abstraction of an ancient ritual, teetering between sober and ecstatic. — New York Times, 23 May 2022 Auburn Tigers, this is our sixth trip to Omaha, and our university is ecstatic. — Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 16 June 2022 Yang and her 10 siblings were ecstatic that a fellow Hmong American was an Olympic champion. — BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Tarantino recently waxed ecstatic about one of his favorite filmmakers, Sergio Corbucci, in director Luca Rea’s documentary Django & Django. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 2 June 2022 The collective energy was suddenly charged and borderline ecstatic. — Doug Bierend, Outside Online, 10 Mar. 2021 Chuck and Janie Hadley, who have lived in the neighborhood for 22 years, were nothing short of ecstatic to be in attendance. — Callan Tansill-suddath, baltimoresun.com, 11 Nov. 2021 In neither case was his audience ecstatic about his pronouncement. — BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2021 When the studio finally offered her the part, Hathaway was beyond ecstatic. — Gabrielle Chung, PEOPLE.com, 14 June 2021 Count Oddo among those ecstatic that Louisville will be part of it. — Shannon Russell, The Courier-Journal, 25 May 2021 Butler couldn't get off a shot on Miami's possession, sending the Bucks fans at Fiserv Forum home ecstatic. — Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 May 2021 Butler couldn't get off a shot on Miami's possession, sending the Bucks fans at Fiserv Forum home ecstatic. — Ben Steele, USA TODAY, 22 May 2021 See More

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

History and Etymology for ecstatic

Adjective

borrowed from Medieval Latin ecstaticus, extaticus, borrowed from Greek ekstatikós "inclined to depart from, out of one's senses, causing mental derangement," from eksta-, stem of existánai "to displace, confound," exístasthai "to be astonished, lose consciousness" + -t-, verbal adjective suffix (after statós "standing") + -ikos -ic entry 1 — more at ecstasy

Noun

Learn More About ecstatic