ecstasy

UK: /ˈɛkstəsi/ US: /ˈɛkstəsi/ ,(ek′stə sē)

Inflections of 'ecstasy' (n): npl: ecstasies

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ec•sta•sy /ˈɛkstəsi/   n., pl. -sies. 

1. [uncountable] extreme joyfulness or happiness; rapture.
2. [countable] any overpowering emotion;
   sudden, intense feeling or excitement.

ec•stat•ic /ɛkˈstætɪk/  adj. 
ec•stat•ic•al•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ec•sta•sy  (ek′stə sē), n., pl. -sies. 

1. rapturous delight.
2. an overpowering emotion or exaltation;
   a state of sudden, intense feeling.
3. the frenzy of poetic inspiration.
4. mental transport or rapture from the contemplation of divine things.

• Greek ékstasis displacement, trance, equivalent. to ek- ec- + stásis stasis
• Medieval Latin extasis
• Middle French
• Middle English extasie 1350–1400

Synonyms

• 2. delight, bliss, elation.
  Ecstasy, rapture, transport, exaltation share a sense of being taken or moved out of one's self or one's normal state, and entering a state of intensified or heightened feeling.
  Ecstasy suggests an intensification of emotion so powerful as to produce a trancelike dissociation from all but the single overpowering feeling:
  an ecstasy of rage, grief, love.
  Rapture shares the power of ecstasy but most often refers to an elevated sensation of bliss or delight, either carnal or spiritual:
  the rapture of first love.
  Transport, somewhat less extreme than either ecstasy or rapture, implies a strength of feeling that results in expression of some kind:
  They jumped up and down in a transport of delight.
  Exaltation refers to a heady sense of personal well-being so powerful that one is lifted above normal emotional levels and above normal people:
  wild exaltation at having finally broken the record.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

ecstasy / ˈɛkstəsɪ/ noun ( -sies)

1. (often plural) a state of exalted delight, joy, etc; rapture
2. intense emotion of any kind: an ecstasy of rage
3. overpowering emotion characterized by loss of self-control and sometimes a temporary loss of consciousness: often associated with orgasm, religious mysticism, and the use of certain drugs
4. 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine; MDMA: a powerful drug that acts as a stimulant and can produce hallucinations

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French extasie, via Medieval Latin from Greek ekstasis displacement, trance, from existanai to displace, from ex- out + histanai to cause to stand