Englisheager
adjective
1 small eager faces looked up and listened:
keen, enthusiastic, avid, fervent, fervid, ardent, zealous, passionate, motivated, wholehearted, dedicated, committed, earnest, diligent;
informal bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, mad keen, (as) keen as mustard;
literary perfervid, passional.
▷antonyms apathetic.
2 her friends were eager for news:
anxious, impatient, waiting with bated breath, longing, yearning, aching, wishing, hoping, hopeful, thirsty, hungry, greedy;
desirous of, hankering after, intent on, bent on, set on;
on the edge of one's seat, on pins and needles, on tenterhooks;
informal hot, itching, gagging, dying.
▷antonyms uninterested.
| choose the right word | eager, keen, enthusiastic, avid |
■ Someone who is eager wants to do or have something very much and feels excited pleasure at the prospect of it (small eager faces looked up and listened | he seemed eager to talk to her). ■ Keen also suggests intense interest and enjoyment, but without the connotations of bubbly anticipation. A keen person's interest in what they do results in commitment and concentration (he is a keen rugby player). Keen can also be used to indicate that someone is anxious to do something, typically because they think it will be advantageous (Laughton is keen to add Davies to his squad). To be keen on something can just mean to like or approve of it (I'm not that keen on the food here). ■ Someone who is enthusiastic about something shows great enjoyment of or approval for it (make it clear that you are enthusiastic about the project). An enthusiastic person does things with energy, gusto, and dedication (an enthusiastic supporter of music from Africa). ■ Avid derives from a Latin word meaning ‘greedy, hungry’. Someone described as avid enjoys something so much that they can never have enough of it (I am an avid reader of your magazine | she was avid for information about the murder inquiry). | |
eager Oxford Dictionary of English