2. (modifier) quick, ready, zealous, eager, enthusiastic.
Nui atu i te ono putu te roa o Rongowhakaata, ā, he āhua manawa reka nei tōna, he mata ratarata, whiwhita anō hoki te titiro (TTR 1998:58). / Rongowhakaata was over six feet tall, a humorous man with a gentle and eager look.
See also ngākau whiwhita
Synonyms: ngākau whakapuke, ngangahau, ngākaunui, whitawhita, ringa tōhau nui, ngākau whiwhita, riterite, atamai, rite, reri, takatū, naho, kamakama, teretere, hihiko, horo, pekepeke, horohoro, hohoro, tūkawikawi, wawewawe, tere, māngi, pepeke, kama, kakama
3. (noun) fanaticism, zeal, keenness, fervor, dedication, enthusiasm.
I te taenga o te kaituhi a Mark Twain ki Whanganui i te tekau tau atu i 1890, ka whakatakariri a ia mō ngā kupu o te tuhinga i te whakapakoko e kī ana ‘he whiwhita, he mohoao’ ngā iwi o te pito whakarunga o te awa i ātete i te noho a te Pākehā (Te Ara 2014). / When he visited Whanganui in the 1890s, the writer Mark Twain was incensed by the text of the memorial, which referred to the ‘fanaticism and barbarism’ of the upper river tribes, who opposed Pākehā settlement.
Synonyms: whakaongaonga, ngākaunui, matangareka, whitawhita, kaikaha, rika, ngākau whakapuke, tāwheta, wana
