delighted
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- delightedly adverb
- delightedness noun
- quasi-delighted adjective
- quasi-delightedly adverb
- undelighted adjective
- undelightedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of delighted
Explanation
You can use the adjective delighted to describe being really pleased or happy with something. Maybe you would be "stoked" about getting backstage passes to a concert, while someone getting backstage passes to the symphony would be delighted. Delighted might be a slightly old-fashioned way to show excitement or enthusiasm, or maybe it's a more refined way to express how you feel. Saying, "Oh, I'm so delighted you decided to come!" was once a common way to show how happy you were to see a friend. More contemporary uses might be sarcastic, like when you hand your mom an armload of stinky gym clothes without a "Please" and she says "I'll be delighted to wash these for you!"
Vocabulary lists containing delighted
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
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Smiley Face: Synonyms for "Happy"
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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.
The school drew parents like therapist Kavita Ramani and her computer-engineer husband, who delighted at the sight of their bright first-grader strutting with joy after a day at Tessellations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
“You have delighted us long enough,” Grant intones, repeating Austen’s famous line.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
"There parents who are absolutely delighted, there was a lot of tears last night," the campaigner said.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
However, I then turned to page D5 and was delighted to see the cornucopia of letters under the “Readers show their love for Charley Steiner” headline.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026
Wriggling and grunting loudly, the delighted Hen Wen had begun to climb onto the couch.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
