athirst

adjective

ə-ˈthərst How to pronounce athirst (audio)
Definition of athirstnext
as in excited
showing urgent desire or interest was athirst for any news at all about family members serving in the war zone

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word athirst distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of athirst are anxious, avid, eager, and keen. While all these words mean "moved by a strong and urgent desire or interest," athirst stresses yearning but not necessarily readiness for action.

athirst for adventure

When might anxious be a better fit than athirst?

The synonyms anxious and athirst are sometimes interchangeable, but anxious emphasizes fear of frustration or failure or disappointment.

anxious not to make a social blunder

How do avid and eager relate to one another, in the sense of athirst?

Avid adds to eager the implication of insatiability or greed.

avid for new thrills

In what contexts can eager take the place of athirst?

The meanings of eager and athirst largely overlap; however, eager implies ardor and enthusiasm and sometimes impatience at delay or restraint.

eager to get started

When would keen be a good substitute for athirst?

In some situations, the words keen and athirst are roughly equivalent. However, keen suggests intensity of interest and quick responsiveness in action.

keen on the latest fashions

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for athirst
  1. excited
  2. avid
  3. enthusiastic
  4. eager
  5. hungry
  6. anxious
  7. thirsty
  8. ardent
Adjective
  • No pretending to be too cool to be excited, just vibing and living in the moment.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Now Lomax is excited for future opportunities to work with other brands.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 5 Nov. 2025
Definition of excited
Adjective
  • An avid pool-player, Rogan has interviewed Gorst on his show twice, including this summer.
    — Jeremy Herb, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Spooky season has come and gone, which means its time for some avid readers to begin making their winter reading lists.
    — Cailey Gleeson, jsonline.com, 6 Nov. 2025
Definition of avid
Adjective
  • Obama’s enthusiastic showings for both candidates was a test of whether his sway over the Democratic Party still remains after his support for Harris failed to boost her to the White House a year ago and angered black male voters who felt unfairly accused of sexism.
    — Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Thornton did not respond to our request for comment on this story, but IndieWire found proof of public interactions Bolea had with the actor, positioning them as enthusiastic supporters of each other’s work at a time when love for Art the Clown was spreading quickly.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
Definition of enthusiastic
Adjective
  • The evil-doing in question is simple enough, at least for a franchise that has always been built around the existence of a clandestine organization of magicians (The Eye) who love using their skills to take down bad guys and quite literally share the wealth with their eager audiences.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Ghana has been one of the first countries to make major Article 6 sales, and some other African nations are eager to follow, Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special climate envoy, told Semafor.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 11 Nov. 2025
Definition of eager
Adjective
  • So last Monday, after scrolling through news of the government shutdown and with nothing else planned for the day, the couple decided to fire up their Pit Boss pellet grill and feed anyone who was hungry, no questions asked.
    — Sean Clancy, Arkansas Online, 9 Nov. 2025
  • Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year’s midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill to power Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Definition of hungry
Adjective
  • The self-laceration is done on Damon Albarn Time, though, as Idles’ usual anxious guitar rave-ups are slowed and stripped here to a skipping, reggae-ish crawl, as synths squeak in the background and Albarn offers support via his forever-distant, disembodied backing vocals.
    — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Obviously, Meghan’s anxious about it.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 7 Nov. 2025
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • Still, despite the trauma-thirsty embrace of Luke’s story from the media, the music lingered.
    — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Plot details are very hazy, but the word on the street is that the story centers on a ne’er-do-well smuggler who finds himself in the middle of a deadly double-cross while on a job in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in him surrounded by bodies, hostile mercenaries and thirsty sharks alike.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 31 Oct. 2025
Definition of thirsty
Adjective
  • The book, ardent yet measured, is unsentimental in a way few show-business bios are.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
  • The healthy-dose of cheese in this recipe will convert even the most ardent broccoli hater.
    — Patricia S York, Southern Living, 9 Nov. 2025
Definition of ardent
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

atheists
athirst
athletic
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Athirst.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/athirst. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.

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