People get excited. And they need to use the right word for the scenario or experience they are excited about.
As chance may have it, excitement can be something that occurs more predominantly during warmer months. The summer always seems to be the season that trends as bringing a lot of excitement. During summer months, however, people can overuse the word excited and it ends up making what they are excited about not so exciting. This is easily remedied, though, by remembering some good alternates or substitutes for the word “excited.”

Miley Cyrus at MMVA Soundcheck.

Miley Cyrus at MMVA Soundcheck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Without further ado, here (with help from Google) is my list of synonyms for the word “excited” (including, where applicable, some appropriate use examples) with, of course, the actual word “excited” beginning the festivities (Ed. Note: the synonyms after excited are in no particular order of emphasis or importance):

  • Excited – everybody’s “go to” and the word from which all other forms of excited originate from: of or in an energy state higher than normal. This is my preferred definition. The other, which I think is lame, is “very enthusiastic or eager.” What are we, puppies? Let’s face it, even if you’re extremely fatigued, once truly excited, that fatigue goes straight out the window. If you suddenly become excited, you can actually cross over to euphoria. So, being excited is very much an optimal state of mind.
  • Amped – This is one that harkens to surfer dudes or just dudes in general. “I’m amped! So, you’re excited? No, I’m more than excited, I’m amped!” Ok then. While being amped may imply a greater level of arousal for some people than just being plain old excited, it does not for me.
  • Jazzed – Until I became hip (enough), when someone related to me that they were “jazzed,” I simply thought they had broken out some John Coltrane and/or Thelonious Monk; I did not know they were merely “excited.” Jazzed, to me, is understated excitement, albeit very hip, swingy and cool.
  • Pumped – This was always an interesting one for me. Back in my weightlifting days being pumped or getting pumped was doing fewer reps at higher weight until the muscles you were working felt like they were expanding—puffing up if you will. When someone is accused of “getting chesty,” I took it to mean they had been doing some bench press with heavy weight. Silly me not to recognize someone excited as being pumped.
  • Stoked – I’m sure this one has its origins with something to do with re-igniting a fire in the fireplace or some such thing. “Stoke the fire, Bob! Nah, you do it!” People use this word when they find out they have free tickets to see Molly Hatchet or Judas Priest. They’re stoked, as in very excited to be seeing either of these bands. Personally, I’ve been stoked at the thought of an upcoming 3-day weekend. I don’t need to have anything to do as much as I’m stoked about the extra day off.
  • Psyched – Somewhat dated, but still used in a pinch. To be “psyched” is to be similarly excited as someone who is stoked at the prospect of seeing either Molly Hatchet or Judas Priest. If psyched is a step down from stoked, then perhaps you can be psyched at the thought of seeing Miley Cyrus or Rare Earth.

So, there you have it. Hopefully you are more prepared to break out these alternates words for excited (instead of overusing excited itself). After all, if you’re truly excited, that elation can interchangeably be expressed with any of the words we discussed above and depending on the occasion.
My recommendation is to go forth and be jazzed, pumped, amped, stoked and psyched simultaneously–the sizzle of summer that awaits is sure to excite you.