An electric work machine in one aspect of the present disclosure includes a motor, a manual switch, and a control circuit. The control circuit switches a preset control either to be enabled or disabled. During the preset control being enabled, the control circuit (i) varies an actual rotational speed of the motor in accordance with an actual moved distance of the manual switch and (ii) increases the actual rotational speed in response to a load being imposed on the motor. During the preset control being disabled, the control circuit varies the actual rotational speed in accordance with the actual moved distance of the manual switch in a manner at least partly distinctive from a variation in the actual rotational speed during the preset control being enabled.