This study aims to provide a conceptual review of the literature on motivation, desire, willingness, interest, passion, eagerness, enthusiasm, love, and engagement in the context of learning. The objectives are: (a) to identify the similarities and differences between eagerness to learn and related concepts, (b) to specify the indicators, criteria, and components associated with eagerness for learning, and (c) to propose a clear definition of this construct. A systematicsearch was conducted in the Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar search engines, as well as the Springer, SAGE, and ScienceDirect databases, using relevant keywords for the period2000–2023. The initial search yielded 21,609 articles. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 125 articles were selected for review. These articles were analyzed using Altheide’s qualitative content analysis strategy. Overall, eagerness to learn is defined as a culture-dependent motivational construct, synonymous with enthusiasm, characterized by the learner’s desire,willingness, or strong interest in learning something they find enjoyable, exciting, or meaningful. The analysis of differences and similarities between eagerness and related constructs —such as motivation, desire, willingness, interest, enthusiasm, passion, love, and engagement—reveal s that these concepts differ primarily in the intensity of the motivational source and the level of emotional expression. They can be arranged along a continuum ranging from internal motivation to external emotional manifestation and observable behavior.