[syn: agitation, excitement, turmoil, upheaval, hullabaloo]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Excitement \Ex*cite"ment\n. [Cf. OF. excitement, escitement.]
1. The act of exciting, or the state of being roused into
action, or of having increased action; impulsion;
agitation; as, an excitement of the people.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which excites or rouses; that which moves, stirs, or
induces action; a motive.
[1913 Webster]
The cares and excitements of a season of transition
and struggle. --Talfowrd.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Physiol.) A state of aroused or increased vital activity
in an organism, or any of its organs or tissues.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
excitement
n 1: the feeling of lively and cheerful joy; "he could hardly
conceal his excitement when she agreed" [syn:
exhilaration, excitement]
2: the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up; "his
face was flushed with excitement and his hands trembled"; "he
tried to calm those who were in a state of extreme
inflammation" [syn: excitement, excitation,
inflammation, fervor, fervour]
3: something that agitates and arouses; "he looked forward to
the excitements of the day" [syn: excitation, excitement]
4: disturbance usually in protest [syn: agitation,
excitement, turmoil, upheaval, hullabaloo]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
148 Moby Thesaurus words for "excitement":
action, activity, ado, aggravation, agitation, anger, animation,
anxiety, ardency, ardor, arousal, arousing, bluster, bobbery, boil,
boiling, breathless impatience, brouhaha, bustle, chafing, churn,
commotion, conturbation, discomfort, discomposure, disorder,
disquiet, disquietude, disturbance, eagerness, ebullience,
ebullition, ecstasy, electrification, embroilment, enthusiasm,
exacerbation, exasperation, excitation, exhilaration, ferment,
fermentation, fervency, fervidity, fervidness, fervor, fever,
feverishness, fidgets, fire, fireworks, firing, flap, flurry,
fluster, flutteration, foment, fomentation, fretfulness, fretting,
fume, furor, fury, fuss, galvanization, gusto, haste, heart,
heartiness, heat, hubbub, hurly-burly, impassionedness, impatience,
impatientness, impetuousness, incitation, incitement, inflammation,
infuriation, inquietude, instigation, irritation, jitters,
jumpiness, lather, lathering up, liveliness, love, maelstrom,
malaise, moil, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, passion,
passionateness, pep rally, pep talk, perturbation, provocation,
rabble-rousing, relish, restiveness, restlessness, roil, rout, row,
savor, seethe, seething, sexual desire, soul, spirit, steaming up,
stew, stimulation, stimulus, stir, stirring, stirring up,
stirring-up, sweat, swirl, tense readiness, tension, to-do,
trepidation, trepidity, tumult, tumultuation, turbidity,
turbulence, turmoil, twitter, unease, uneasiness, unpatientness,
unquietness, unrest, upset, vehemence, verve, warmth,
warmth of feeling, whipping up, working up, zeal