agog

Agog is an adjective describing a state of keen eagerness or curiosity, often with anticipation of something exciting or surprising. A person, crowd, or audience can be agog, and the term is commonly used to convey heightened interest or wonder. It is most often found in informal, literary, or humorous contexts rather than in formal technical writing.

Etymology and history are not entirely settled. The exact origin of agog is uncertain, but it is a long-standing English word that has been in use since the Middle Ages. It is frequently linked, at least indirectly, to the idea of being led or driven forward, with some scholarly connections drawn to the Greek root agogos meaning leader, though this derivation is not definitive. In practice, agog conveys a sense of being propelled by excitement or curiosity rather than by physical motion.

Usage notes and examples help illustrate its typical sense. Agog is usually predicative, as in the sentence “The crowd was agog at the fireworks.” It is also followed by at or to, for example, “agog to learn the results” or “agog at the news.” The expression can be deliberately emphatic or humorous, and it may feel slightly old-fashioned in very formal writing. In contemporary prose and speech, substitutes like eager, curious, or excited are often preferred in neutral contexts.

See also: eager, excited, curious, astonished.