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
  • Scherzinger glowed with an excited expression, her arms raised again in the air.
    — Danielle Minnetian, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
  • A lot of us are excited to refresh our spaces in the new year.
    — Shagun Khare, The Spruce, 9 Jan. 2026
Definition of excited
Adjective
  • But beyond the timeless hits, the strong-willed and self-confident Arcángel has become an avid supporter of next-gen stars including Bad Bunny, Young Miko, Feid, Grupo Frontera, Maria Becerra and Carrión.
    — Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The couple, both avid backpackers and hikers, trained for nine months in Sacramento, California, for the chilly climb.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
Definition of avid
Adjective
  • View gallery - 9 images Designed as a permanent home for a couple of enthusiastic travelers, the Bespoke Base doesn't compromise on comfort.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2026
  • McNally’s enthusiastic endorsement of Altadena and its agrarian and esthetic charms led wealthy families from the Midwest and East to [build] their winter homes in Altadena.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Jan. 2026
Definition of enthusiastic
Adjective
  • The 23-year-old Shou, a lifelong Fremont resident, won out over hundreds of others eager to play 17-year-old Joe, a troubled San Gabriel Valley area high school student with schizophrenia whose distraught mom Irene (Liu, in a transformative performance) is dying of cancer.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Hosted by Variety’s Angelique Jackson and Marc Malkin, the pre-show will deliver exclusive access, must-see interviews and real-time coverage from the first spot on the carpet, serving as the ultimate destination for fans eager to experience the night unfold.
    — William Earl, Variety, 7 Jan. 2026
Definition of eager
Adjective
  • There are a handful of of others, like dYdX, that offer crypto derivatives to risk-hungry traders who don’t want to venture onto centralized exchanges like Coinbase.
    — Ben Weiss, Fortune, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Unfortunately, hungry deer are quite capable of nipping off every growing tip on a young lilac and all the buds set last year, leaving you with no blooms in spring.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Jan. 2026
Definition of hungry
Adjective
  • In Clayton’s and Josephson’s hands, though, the fawn response becomes something more pliable, less a sign of acute threat than a broadly anxious orientation to the world.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Six-year-old Lucas Kincaid of Molalla, Oregon stood with his family to take a final peek in the hulking main telescope beneath the dome in anxious anticipation, snug in his furry hooded jacket like a hibernating bear cub about to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 11 Jan. 2026
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • Their opening night gets interrupted when blood thirsty vampires are lured in by the musical talents of Sammie (Miles Caton), a young blues musician.
    — Yamillah Hurtado, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Investments in controlling invasive species have led to a 75 percent reduction in the area overtaken by melaleuca, a particularly thirsty tree species introduced in the river of grass near the turn of the 20th century to help drain it.
    — Amy Green, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026
Definition of thirsty
Adjective
  • Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, both ardent Trump allies, have been vocal in criticizing Powell over the project.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The ardent fan can’t expect this running game to produce 164 yards in its current state; the reasonable fan of any NFL team can’t expect to go 10-for-18 on third- and fourth-downs, either.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 10 Jan. 2026
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 16 Jan. 2026.

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