ecstacy

Noun

ecstasy (countable and uncountable, plural ecstasies)

1. Intense pleasure.
   • This is the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertakings / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...

   Synonyms:

   rapture, euphoria

   Antonyms:

   agony

2. A state of emotion so intense that a person is carried beyond rational thought and self-control.
   • an ecstasy of remorse
3. A trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation.
   • What! are you dreaming, Son! with Eyes cast upwards / Like a mad Prophet in an Ecstasy?1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy, act i, scene i
4. (obsolete) Violent emotion or distraction of mind; excessive grief from anxiety; insanity; madness.
   • Come, let us leave him; in his ireful mood / Our words will but increase his ecstasy.c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published...
5. (slang) The drug MDMA, a synthetic entactogen of the methylenedioxyphenethylamine family, especially in a tablet form.

   Synonyms:

   MDMA, molly, E, eckie, ecky, XTC, X, thizz, empathy

6. (dated) A state in which sensibility, voluntary motion, and (largely) mental power are suspended, and the body is erect and inflexible.
   • The instant I drew out my case of instruments, the lady roused herself from her ecstasy, and has never had a similar attack.1822 April, John Ware, “Dr. Reid's Essays on Hypochondriasis”, in The New-England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, volume 11, number 2, page 185

See all 8 meanings of ecstasy