exuberance

What it means

1. uncountableThe quality of being exuberant; cheerful or vigorous enthusiasm; liveliness.

   Tottenham's desire for a win against a Norwich side playing with energy and exuberance made for an enthralling, end-to-end game.

   2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 - 2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport

   1 more example

   The stock market found itself at a similar moment 29 years ago, when Alan Greenspan famously warned of “irrational exuberance” fueling a bubble in internet stocks. The S&P 500 had risen more than 60 percent in the two years before Mr. Greenspan’s speech.

   2025 December 9, Joe Rennison, “Wall Street Is Shaking Off Fears of an A.I. Bubble. For Now.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

   Synonyms: ebullience, joy, vim, vitality, ardor, alacrity, celerity, energy · Antonyms: apathy, dullness, listlessness

2. countableuncountableAn instance of exuberant behaviour.
3. countableuncountableAn overflowing quantity; superfluousness.

   an exuberance of branches in a plant

In a sentence

Tottenham's desire for a win against a Norwich side playing with energy and exuberance made for an enthralling, end-to-end game.

2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 - 2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport

Where it comes from

1. Latinexuberantia“superabundance”
2. Frenchexubérance
3. Englishexuberance

From French exubérance, from Latin exuberantia (“superabundance”), from exuberare (“to grow thickly, to abound”); from ex- (“out”) + uber (“udder”), which would have originally referred to a cow or she-goat which was making so much milk that it naturally dripped or sprayed from the udder.