Ecstasy

ec·sta·sy - Pronunciation Key - [ek-stuh-see]

1. rapturous delight.

2. an overpowering emotion or exaltation; a state of sudden, intense feeling.

3. the frenzy of poetic inspiration.

4. mental transport or rapture from the contemplation of divine things.

—Synonyms 2. delight, bliss, elation. Ecstasy, rapture, transport, exaltation share a sense of being taken or moved out of one's self or one's normal state, and entering a state of intensified or heightened feeling. Ecstasy suggests an intensification of emotion so powerful as to produce a trancelike dissociation from all but the single overpowering feeling: an ecstasy of rage, grief, love. Rapture shares the power of ecstasy but most often refers to an elevated sensation of bliss or delight, either carnal or spiritual: the rapture of first love.

ecstasy
Origin: F. Extase, L. Ecstasis, fr. Gr, fr. To put out of place, derange; = out + to set, stand. See Ex-, and Stand] [Also written extasy.

1. The state of being beside one's self or rapt out of one's self; a state in which the mind is elevated above the reach of ordinary impressions, as when under the influence of overpowering emotion; an extraordinary elevation of the spirit, as when the soul, unconscious of sensible objects, is supposed to contemplate heavenly mysteries. "Like a mad prophet in an ecstasy." (Dryden) "This is the very ecstasy of love." (Shak)

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