ekstasis means the state of being beside oneself or rapt out of oneself. It carries an Arena rating of 1881, earned across 11 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ekstasis ranks #1,857 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #2,696 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,976 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,663 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
ekstasis is pronounced /ˈɛkstəsɪs/.
Why “ekstasis” is a great word
A state of being beside oneself, typically through intense emotion, mystical experience, or trance. From Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis, "displacement, trance"), from ἐξίστημι (exístēmi, "to displace, to stand outside"), from ἐκ (ek, "out") and ἵστημι (hístēmi, "to stand"), first attested in English in the late 14th century. Unlike "euphoria," which denotes a generalized feeling of intense happiness, or "reverie," which suggests a pleasant, gentle daydream, ekstasis is a rupture, an unmooring. It is the dancer consumed by rhythm until identity blurs, the mystic's vision that incinerates reason, or the lover who cannot remember which heartbeat belongs to whom—the body left behind like an empty shell while something wordless steps across the threshold of the self.
Etymology
Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis, “displacement, cession, trance”)
noun
- The state of being beside oneself or rapt out of oneself.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.