EAGERNESS

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Prompt willingness

Example:

he tried to explain his forwardness in battle

Synonyms:

eagerness; forwardness; readiness; zeal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("eagerness" is a kind of...):

willingness (cheerful compliance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something

Synonyms:

avidity; avidness; eagerness; keenness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("eagerness" is a kind of...):

enthusiasm (a feeling of excitement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "eagerness"):

ardor; ardour; elan; zeal (a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause))

Derivation:

eager (having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy)

Credits

Context examples:

For a moment they waited—the German sombre and collected, Sir Nigel quivering in every fibre with eagerness and fiery resolution.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it; and it may be doubted if, from that day forth, Utterson desired the society of his surviving friend with the same eagerness.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Wolf waited for him to reappear. He waited a long minute, silently, quietly, without movement, as though turned to stone—withal stone quick with eagerness and desire. He barked once, and waited.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

With hands that trembled with eagerness, I unhooked the chains and drew back the massive bolts. But the door would not move. Despair seized me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This eagerness on their part was noted by Wolf Larsen with a grim smile.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She was pleased with the eagerness to arrive which had made him alter his plan, and travel earlier, later, and quicker, that he might gain half a day.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She caught every syllable with panting eagerness; her hand, unknowingly to herself, closely pressed her sister's, and tears covered her cheeks.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

But the person who advanced was now near enough to see her, and stepping forward with eagerness, pronounced her name.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to this extraordinary sequence of events, and endeavoured to piece them together, and to devise some common thread upon which they might all hang.