Excited describes feeling very happy, eager, or interested about something that is happening or will happen. It can also describe a state of high energy or nervousness.
It comes from Latin 'excitare', meaning 'to call out, arouse, stir up', from 'ex-' (out) and 'citare' (to put in motion). The emotional meaning grew from the idea of being stirred into action.
Your body doesn’t clearly separate 'excited' from 'nervous'—the racing heart and sweaty hands are similar. Often, your mind decides which label to use, which means you can sometimes reframe fear as excitement.
“Excited” is generally neutral, but in some professional and academic contexts, women’s and girls’ expressions of excitement have been stereotyped as less rational or less serious than men’s enthusiasm. Historically, women’s emotional displays were more likely to be pathologized as “overexcited” or “hysterical.”
Use “excited” even-handedly across genders for positive anticipation or interest, and avoid implying that some genders should be more restrained or unemotional. In formal settings, pair it with competence (e.g., “excited and well-prepared”) rather than framing it as childish.
["enthusiastic","looking forward to","eager","very interested"]
Women and gender-diverse professionals have pushed back against norms that equate their visible excitement with unprofessionalism, helping expand acceptable emotional ranges for everyone in workplaces and public life.
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