agog

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, en + gogues "in a merry mood". See also the Italian agognare (“to desire eagerly”)

Pronunciation

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• (US) IPA: /əˈɡɒɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡ

Adjective

agog (comparative more agog, superlative most agog)

1. In eager desire, eager, astir.
2. (chiefly of eyes) Wide open.
   • 1860, John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Two-Headed Snake of Newbury”, in Home Ballads:

     Cotton Mather came galloping down
     All the way to Newbury town,
     With his eyes agog and his ears set wide,
     And his marvellous inkhorn at his side;

   • 1894, Ford Madox Ford, The queen who flew: a fairy tale‎, page 41:

     . . . and did not move even when the frogs crept out of the water and listened, with their gold-rimmed eyes all agog, and their yellow throats palpitating.

   • 1940, Agatha Christie, Sad Cypress, page 9:

     People leaning forward, their lips parted a little, their eyes agog, staring at her, Elinor, with a horrible ghoulish excitement . . .

   • 1964, Ken Kesey, Sometimes a Great Notion, page 190:

     Joe shook his head in awe, eyes agog and mouth hanging open as mine once must have hung for the tales of the north woods' legendary denizens.

Synonyms

• all-a-gog

Translations

in eager desire

• German: gespannt (de)
• Portuguese: ansioso (pt), curioso (pt)

• Spanish: ansioso (es), curioso (es)
• Swedish: ivrig (sv), spänd förväntan (sv)

wide open

• French: écarquillé (fr)

• German: weit geöffnet (de)

Adverb

agog (comparative more agog, superlative most agog)

1. In a state of high anticipation, excitement, or interest.

Translations

in a state of high anticipation

• French: impatiemment (fr)

• Portuguese: ansiosamente (pt)