eager

adjective

1)

small eager faces

Syn:

keen, enthusiastic, avid, fervent, ardent, motivated, wholehearted, dedicated, committed, earnest; informal gung-ho

Ant:

apathetic

2)

we were eager for news

Syn:

anxious, impatient, longing, yearning, wishing, hoping, hopeful; on the edge of one's seat, on tenterhooks, on pins and needles; informal itching, gagging, dying

Ant:

uninterested

••

eager, ardent, avid, enthusiastic, fervent, keen, zealous

You've heard of the "eager beaver"? Anyone who has a strong interest or an impatient desire to pursue or become involved in something is called eager (eager to get started; an eager learner). Someone who is especially eager might be called avid, a word that implies greed or insatiable desire (an avid golfer, he was never at home on weekends). Ardent combines eagerness with intense feelings of passion or devotion (an ardent lover; an ardent theatergoer), while fervent suggests an eagerness that is ready, at least figuratively, to boil over (their fervent pleas could not be ignored). Anyone who is deeply interested in something or who shows a spirited readiness to act is called keen (he was keen on bicycling), while zealous implies the kind of eagerness that pushes all other considerations aside (a zealous environmentalist). Enthusiastic may connote participation rather than expectation: One can be eager to take a trip to Switzerland, an ardent student of Swiss history, and an avid outdoorsperson who is keen on hiking, but one is usually called enthusiastic about a trip to Switzerland when it is under way or is over; enthusiastic also very often applies to someone who outwardly and forcefully expresses eagerness.