exuberant
adj/ɪɡˈzuːbəɹənt/
Etymology From Middle French exubérant, from Latin exūberāns, the present active participle of exūberō (“be abundant”). Put together from ex (“out”), and uber (“udder”), and originally would have referred to a cow or she-goat which was making so much milk that it naturally dripped or sprayed from the udder.
1
Of people Very cheery and peppy; extremely cheerful, energetic and enthusiastic.
- exuberant feeling
- He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts.1882, Frank R. Stockton, The Lady or the Tiger?:
1 more example
- She was a tall, earthy, exuberant girl with long hair and a pretty face.1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22:
2
Literary, Of things that grow Abundant, luxuriant.
- exuberant foliage
- It pencilled each flower with rich and variegated hues, and threw over its exuberant foliage a vesture of emerald green.1852, The Ark, and Odd Fellows' Western Magazine:
1 more example
- The County Architect's Department is starting to pleach trees to open up these vistas, now almost hidden by the exuberant growth.1972, Ken Lemmon, "Restoration Work at Studley Royal," Garden History, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 22
3
Medicine, Sciences Unusually proliferative, widespread or extreme, particularly in relation to a disease, immune reaction, or tissue
- Derived terms
- exuberantly, exuberantness, overexuberant, unexuberant
- Related terms
- exuberance