Other

fanatic

Syllabification: (fa·nat·ic)

Pronunciation: /fəˈnatik/

Translate fanatic | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

Definition of fanatic

noun

a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause.
[often with modifier] informal a person with an obsessive interest in and enthusiasm for something, especially an activity:a fitness fanatic

adjective

[attributive]

filled with or expressing excessive zeal:his fanatic energy

Derivatives

fanaticize

Origin:

mid 16th century (as an adjective): from French fanatique or Latin fanaticus 'of a temple, inspired by a god', from fanum 'temple'. The adjective originally described behavior or speech that might result from possession by a god or demon, hence the earliest sense of the noun 'a religious maniac' (mid 17th century)

fanatic in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of fanatic in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

More words in this category

Subscriber login

Library card login