ECSTASY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ecstasy mean? 

• ECSTASY (noun)
  The noun ECSTASY has 3 senses:

1. a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion

2. a state of elated bliss

3. street names for methylenedioxymethamphetamine

  Familiarity information: ECSTASY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ECSTASY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

ecstasy; exaltation; rapture; raptus; transport

Context example:

listening to sweet music in a perfect rapture

Hypernyms ("ecstasy" is a kind of...):

emotional state; spirit (the state of a person's emotions (especially with regard to pleasure or dejection))

Derivation:

ecstatic (feeling great rapture or delight)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A state of elated bliss

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

ecstasy; rapture

Hypernyms ("ecstasy" is a kind of...):

bliss; blissfulness; cloud nine; seventh heaven; walking on air (a state of extreme happiness)

Derivation:

ecstatic (feeling great rapture or delight)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Street names for methylenedioxymethamphetamine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

Adam; cristal; disco biscuit; ecstasy; go; hug drug; X; XTC

Hypernyms ("ecstasy" is a kind of...):

MDMA; methylenedioxymethamphetamine (a stimulant drug that is chemically related to mescaline and amphetamine and is used illicitly for its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects; it was formerly used in psychotherapy but in 1985 it was declared illegal in the United States)

 Context examples 

"Wealden!" cried Challenger, in an ecstasy.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Leach had worked himself into an ecstasy of impotent rage.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Adele ran quite wild in the midst of it: the preparations for company and the prospect of their arrival, seemed to throw her into ecstasies.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“By George, it’s marvellous!” cried Hopkins, in an ecstasy of admiration.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

'Tis she!' cried Count Gustave, and fell at her feet in an ecstasy of joy.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Well said, Mas'r Davy bor'!” cried Ham, in an ecstasy.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The moment of her release from him was ecstasy.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

There! you see! cried Mary in an ecstasy, just as I said!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

‘Ah, smart, smart!’ he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)