v.
Pronunciation: in- ' thüz, en-, also - ' thyüz
Function: verb
Inflected Form: en · thused ; en · thus · ing
Etymology: back-formation from enthusiasm
Date: 1827
transitive verb
1 : to make enthusiastic <is enthused about the project>
2 : to express with enthusiasm
intransitive verb : to show enthusiasm <a splendid performance, and I was enthusing over it ― Julian Huxley>
usage Enthuse is apparently American in origin, although the earliest known example of its use occurs in a letter written in 1827 by a young Scotsman who spent about two years in the Pacific Northwest. It has been disapproved since about 1870. Current evidence shows it to be flourishing nonetheless on both sides of the Atlantic especially in journalistic prose.