If you feel like “a hot air balloon that could go to space” or, perhaps, “like a room without a roof,” you might—with all due respect to Pharrell Williams—be not just happy but ecstatic. In other words: euphoric, over the moon, positively brimming with joy or excitement. Ecstatic has been used in English since the late 1500s, arriving (via Medieval Latin) from the Greek adjective ekstatikós meaning, among other things “out of one’s senses.” Ekstatikós, in turn, was formed in part from eksta-, the stem of such verbs as existánai, “to displace or confound,” and exístasthai “to be astonished or lose consciousness.” That seems an appropriate history for a word that can describe someone who is nearly out of their mind with intense emotion. Eksta-, it should be noted, also contributed to the Greek noun ékstasis, meaning “astonishment” or “trance,” which led to ecstasy (the English word, of course, not the universal feeling).
AdjectiveA 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
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Adjective
The sharpshooter is ecstatic to be in Charlotte — and sees his game being particularly well-rounded, beyond his prowess behind the arc.—Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 27 June 2025 Most players would be ecstatic to be drafted in the top five, but Bailey has been a major storyline throughout the entire draft process.—Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 June 2025 Though Mamdani’s campaign team was ecstatic Tuesday night, there’s a long road ahead to November’s general election.—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 25 June 2025 About making space for the irrational, the intuitive, the uncomfortable truths and the ecstatic risks.—Stephanie Dillon, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for ecstatic
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
borrowed from Medieval Latin ecstaticus, extaticus, borrowed from Greek ekstatikós "inclined to depart from, out of one's senses, causing mental disorder," 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
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