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Eager vs Purposeful - What's the difference?

eager | purposeful | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between eager and purposeful

is that eager is sharp; sour; acid while purposeful is having purpose; intentional.

As a noun eager

is alternative form of lang=en (tidal bore).

eager

English

(Webster 1913)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) eger, from (etyl) egre (French aigre), from (etyl) ; see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar.

Adjective

(er)
  • (obsolete) Sharp; sour; acid.
  • * Shakespeare
    • like eager droppings into milk
  • (obsolete) Sharp; keen; bitter; severe.
  • * Shakespeare
    • eager words
  • * Shakespeare
    • a nipping and an eager air
  • (rfc-sense) Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement.
  • * Keble
    • When to her eager lips is brought / Her infant's thrilling kiss.
  • * Hawthorne
    • a crowd of eager and curious schoolboys
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=19 citation , passage=When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.}}
  • Brittle; inflexible; not ductile.
  • * John Locke
    • Gold will be sometimes so eager , as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself.
  • (comptheory) Not employing lazy evaluation; calculating results immediately, rather than deferring calculation until they are required.
    • an eager algorithm
    Synonyms
    * raring
    Derived terms
    * eager beaver * eagerly * eagerness

    Etymology 2

    See (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (tidal bore).

    • External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    *

    purposeful

    English

    (Purpose)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having purpose; intentional.
  • Having a purpose in mind; resolute; determined.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 10 , author=Jeremy Wilson , title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , work=Telegraph citation , page= , passage=An utterly emphatic 5-0 victory was ultimately capped by two wonder strikes in the last two minutes from Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner. Before that, England had utterly dominated to take another purposeful stride towards the 2013 European Championship in Israel. They have already established a five-point buffer at the top of Group Eight. }}

    Synonyms

    * determined * nose to the grindstone * focused

    Derived terms

    * purposefully * purposefulness

    Related terms

    * purposive