Definition of athirstnext

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
Adjective
  • White is excited about his future, and plans to perform at this year's Minnesota State Fair.
    Tony Peterson, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
  • But the nail in the coffin for her family was the bike course, which her niece was most excited for.
    Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer.
    ABC News, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The Qantas Ambassador-At-Large and avid pilot was welcomed by the Qantas CEO and Grand Prix Grid Grils at the Melbourne airport.
    Christopher Harris, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Harmony and an enthusiastic attitude between soldiers are preferred and essential, especially in combat.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The clips have accumulated millions of views and many enthusiastic comments from Western audiences.
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • But Pineda brings the matter up many times, and is eager to defend himself.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2026
  • With Archer’s amicable exit, the Princess of Wales is eager for the focus to be on her work rather than her outfits.
    Laura Scafati, Vanity Fair, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The Hortas were horrified to learn that Tania Hernandez, the owner of the small house where their friend was going hungry, was a social services worker for the state charged with the mission of saving frail, elderly and disabled adults like Rabell.
    Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Without a bobber stopper, on a slack line, your bullet weight will sink to the bottom, but your soft plastic will slowly glide towards the bottom while enticing hungry bass into biting.
    Derek Horner, Outdoor Life, 2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel each day, disrupting the lives of millions of anxious and exhausted voters.
    Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Investors have grown more anxious about inflation, with Treasury yields rising and consumer surveys showing short‑term price expectations drifting upward.
    Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Conversely, a dry and thirsty soil bed retains snowmelt come spring, inadvertently allowing for more evaporative loss and water uptake by vegetation, and leaving little for stream flows.
    Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Above and beyond anything else, this is a story of kindness and inclusivity, which everyone’s thirsty for.
    Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • His grandfather had been an ardent Zionist who, in 1975, sold his house, on Long Island, and moved to Beersheba, a city in southern Israel.
    Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Some of the silence is designed to amplify the missing, the previously ignored, the co-opted, the terrorized, the gaslighted, and excluded voices of the country’s most ardent supporters of a multiracial democracy.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Athirst.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/athirst. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

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