ecstasy means intense pleasure.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ecstasy ranks #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,127 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #7,156 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words, #7,181 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words.
ecstasy is pronounced /ˈɛkstəsi/.
Why “ecstasy” is a great word
A state of overwhelming emotion, especially rapturous delight or trance-like exaltation. From Middle English extasie, from Old French estaise, from Medieval Latin extasis, from Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis, "displacement, trance"), from ἐξίστημι (exístēmi, "to displace, stand outside oneself"), from ἐκ (ek, "out") and ἵστημι (hístēmi, "to stand"). Unlike bliss, which suggests serene and contented perfection, or euphoria, which denotes a generalized, often chemical, well-being, ecstasy implies a profound displacement from the ordinary self. It is the dancer utterly consumed by rhythm, the mystic’s vision that shatters the bounds of flesh, the sudden, piercing joy that feels less like an emotion and more like a migration—a fleeting vacation from the confines of one’s own skin.
Etymology
From Old French estaise (“ecstasy, rapture”), from Latin ecstasis, from Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis), from ἐξίστημι (exístēmi, “to displace”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).
noun
- Intense pleasure.e.g.“This is the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertakings / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures.”
- A state of emotion so intense that a person is carried beyond rational thought and self-control.e.g.“an ecstasy of remorse”
- A trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation.e.g.“What! are you dreaming, Son! with Eyes cast upwards / Like a mad Prophet in an Ecstasy?”
- Violent emotion or distraction of mind; excessive grief from anxiety; insanity; madness.e.g.“Come, let us leave him; in his ireful mood / Our words will but increase his ecstasy.”
- The drug MDMA, a synthetic entactogen of the methylenedioxyphenethylamine family, especially in a tablet form.
- A state in which sensibility, voluntary motion, and (largely) mental power are suspended, and the body is erect and inflexible.e.g.“The instant I drew out my case of instruments, the lady roused herself from her ecstasy, and has never had a similar attack.”
verb
- To experience intense pleasure.
- To cause intense pleasure in.
Words closest in meaning
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