eager

A person who really wants to do something is said to be "eager." This is an adjective that we use for people who are happy about something they are doing now or will do in the future:

• Mina is very eager to start her new job.
• The salesperson was eager to help the customers find and buy a new car.
• Darryl isn’t very eager to go into the military.
• We’re eager to see what happens with all the tomatoes we planted this spring.
• My students are eager to improve their English.

As an adverb, "eager" changes to "eagerly."

• Everyone is eagerly waiting for the movie to begin.
• The students are working eagerly on their project.
• Binti is eagerly anticipating a phone call from a company that wants to hire her.

An eager beaver is a person who works eagerly.

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This page was first published on May 23, 2012. It was updated on January 17, 2015.