delight
Americannoun
-
a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture.
She takes great delight in her job.
- Synonyms:
- delectation, transport
- Antonyms:
- distress
-
something that gives great pleasure.
The dance was a delight to see.
- Antonyms:
- disappointment
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to please greatly
-
to take great pleasure (in)
noun
-
extreme pleasure or satisfaction; joy
-
something that causes this
music was always his delight
Related Words
See pleasure.
Other Word Forms
- delighter noun
- delightingly adverb
- delightless adjective
- self-delight noun
- undelighting adjective
Etymology
Origin of delight
First recorded in 1175–1225; (verb) respelling, after light 1, of earlier delite, Middle English deliten, from Anglo-French deliter, Old French delitier, from Latin delectāre ( delectable ); (noun) respelling (as above) of Middle English delit, from Anglo-French, Old French, derivative of the verb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now and then, a press tour will take Bradley Cooper to Paris, where he often speaks French in interviews, delighting a local crowd of starstruck French viewers and unsuspecting international audiences alike.
From Salon
She was delighted by how few people were on board.
Rachel Kendall, deputy chief executive of The Christie Charity, said it was "delighted" to be able to fund the Sarah Harding Young Women's Breast Cancer Fellowship opportunity.
From BBC
"It's going to be me so I'm absolutely delighted. Waiting on the date," she said.
From BBC
He also got a haircut at a barbers in a township in the capital, Lusaka - to the delight of thousands of people who flocked there as news spread on social media.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
