exuberant means very cheery and peppy; extremely cheerful, energetic and enthusiastic.
exuberant is pronounced /ɪɡˈzuːbəɹənt/.
Why “exuberant” is a great word
Full of uncontainable, joyous energy or characterized by lush, abundant growth. From Latin exūberāns, present participle of exūberō (“be abundant”), from ex- (“out”) + ūber (“udder, fertile”), originally evoking an overflowing udder. Unlike “ebullient,” which suggests a specifically effervescent, bubbling-over quality, or “profuse,” which emphasizes mere lavish quantity, “exuberant” carries the dual warmth of fertile vigor and untrammeled cheer. It is the shameless green riot of a summer hedge, the unrestrained laughter that shakes a dinner table, the sheer, giddy excess of a trumpet section in full swing—a celebration of life’s generous, unchecked spill, pushing through with a kind of fertile, irrepressible warmth.
Etymology
From Middle French exubérant, from Latin exūberāns, the present active participle of exūberō (“be abundant”). Put together from ex (“out”), and uber (“udder”), and originally would have referred to a cow or she-goat which was making so much milk that it naturally dripped or sprayed from the udder.
adj
- Very cheery and peppy; extremely cheerful, energetic and enthusiastic.e.g.“exuberant feeling”
- Abundant, luxuriant.e.g.“exuberant foliage”
- Unusually proliferative, widespread or extreme, particularly in relation to a disease, immune reaction, or tissue
Words closest in meaning
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