fanatic

UK: /fəˈnætɪk/ US: /fəˈnætɪk/ ,(fə nat′ik)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

fa•nat•ic /fəˈnætɪk/   n. [countable]

1. a person with extreme enthusiasm or zeal, such as in religion or politics;
   zealot.

adj. Also, faˈnat•i•cal. 

2. having extreme enthusiasm or zeal.

fa•nat•i•cal•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

fa•nat•ic  (fə nat′ik), n. 

1. a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

adj. 

2. fanatical.

• Latin fānāticus pertaining to a temple, inspired by orgiastic rites, frantic, equivalent. to fān(um) temple + -āticus, equivalent. to -āt(us) -ate¹ + -icus -ic
• 1515–25

Synonyms

• 1. enthusiast, zealot, bigot, hothead, militant.
  Fanatic, zealot, militant, devotee refer to persons showing more than ordinary support for, adherence to, or interest in a cause, point of view, or activity.
  Fanatic and zealot both suggest excessive or overweening devotion to a cause or belief.
  Fanatic further implies unbalanced or obsessive behavior:
  a wild-eyed fanatic.
  Zealot, only slightly less unfavorable in implication than fanatic, implies single-minded partisanship:
  a tireless zealot for tax reform.
  Militant stresses vigorous, aggressive support for or opposition to a plan or ideal and suggests a combative stance.
  Devotee is a milder term than any of the foregoing, suggesting enthusiasm but not to the exclusion of other interests or possible points of view:
  a jazz devotee.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fanatic / fəˈnætɪk/ noun

1. a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits
2. a person devoted to a particular hobby or pastime; fan

adjective

1. a variant of fanatical

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin fānāticus belonging to a temple, hence, inspired by a god, frenzied, from fānum temple