ebullient
adjective

- very energetic, positive, and happy

- having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

- overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited

Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary com

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WORD ORIGIN

The word "ebullient" has an interesting etymology, deriving from the Latin ebullire, which means "to boil up" or "to bubble forth”.

The prefix e- in Latin means "out" or "forth”, while bullire means "to boil”. So the root of the word "ebullient" is literally about something boiling over or bubbling up.

It suggests a kind of bubbly, effervescent quality - like water or liquid boiling and overflowing with energy and vigour.

The English word "ebullient" emerged in the 16th century, derived directly from the Latin ebulliens, the present participle of ebullire. Over time, the meaning expanded to describe a more figurative "boiling over" of emotions, personality, or behaviour - conveying a sense of cheerfulness, liveliness, and high spirits.

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BUBBLY ANECDOTES

- Tallulah Bankhead was famously talkative. The magician Fred Keating once had a memorable conversation with the bubbly actress. "I've just spent an hour", he explained, "talking to Tallulah for a few minutes". 

- "Lady Astor's energy was extraordinary”,  says The Times of London. "After a long day on London in the House she would return to Clivedon about seven, change into tennis clothes and play two or three sets of singles with one of her nieces, then down to the river in her cream-coloured car, driven at speed; she would swim across the Thames, talking all the time about God, or advising someone on the bank how to live his, or usually her, life, touch bottom on the far bank, tell swans to go away, and swim back, still talking". 

- Johannes Brahms once found himself cornered by a group of ebullient female fans. After several unsuccessful attempts to escape, the composer finally lit an enormous cigar. The ladies, engulfed in smoke, chided the composer for his boorish manners. "A gentleman”, one said, "does not smoke in the presence of ladies”. "Ladies”, Brahms retorted, puffing away, "where there are angels there must also be clouds”.  

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SYNONYMS

abubble, alive with energy, animated, ardent, a ball of fire, a bundle of energy, a dynamo, a force of nature, a fountain of enthusiasm, bouncy, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, brimming with enthusiasm (with joy), bubbling over (with enthusiasm), bubbly, buoyant, bursting with energy (with joy), buzzing with excitement, cheerful, chipper, cock-a-hoop, EBULLIENT, effervescent, energetic, enthusiastic, excited, exhilarated, exuberant, fervent, fizzy, frolicking, full of beans (of pep and vinegar), gung-ho, gushing (with excitement), hearty, high-spirited, hyper, in high spirits, irrepressible, jaunty, jocund, joyful, joyous, lively, merry, mirthful, on fire, overflowing with energy, passionate, peppy, perky, pumped, radiating vitality, raring to go (to burst), rip-roaring, rollicking, sparkling (with vivacity), spirited, sprightly, stoked, sunny, teeming with zest, thrilled, tickled pink, zealous, zestful, zesty, zingy

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

"When Susan found out she won a year's supply of chocolate, she became EBULLIENT enough to share…almost."

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THANKS to Birger for suggesting today’s OWAD.

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