Word of the Day

: April 22, 2021

ebullient

adjective ih-BULL-yunt

What It Means

1 : boiling, agitated

2 : characterized by ebullience : having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

ebullient in Context

"Coach Kristen Kirkman, who guided the Bulldogs' boys and girls, is ebullient about her junior class, which she hopes can take the program even beyond last season's Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association finishes of fifth for boys and fourth for girls." — Sonny Dearth, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), 14 Jan. 2021

"Born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the ebullient O'Ree had a very brief NHL playing career…. A goodwill ambassador for the league for the better part of the last quarter-century, he was the first player of African heritage to play in the NHL when he suited up for the Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958, for a weekend series vs. the Canadiens." — Kevin Paul Dupont, MSN.com, 12 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?

Someone who is ebullient is bubbling over with enthusiasm, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that ebullient derives from the Latin verb ebullire, which means "to bubble out." When ebullient was first used in the late 1500s its meaning hewed closely to its Latin source: ebullient meant "boiling" or "bubbling," and described things like boiling water and boiling oil. Only later did the word's meaning broaden to encompass emotional agitation as well as the roiling of a boiling liquid.