rapture
Americannoun
-
ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy.
- Synonyms:
- exaltation, transport, beatitude, bliss
- Antonyms:
- misery
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Often raptures. an utterance or expression of ecstatic delight.
-
the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.
-
Theology. the Rapture, the experience, anticipated by some fundamentalist Christians, of meeting Christ midway in the air upon his return to earth.
-
Archaic. the act of carrying off.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the state of mind resulting from feelings of high emotion; joyous ecstasy
-
(often plural) an expression of ecstatic joy
-
the act of transporting a person from one sphere of existence to another, esp from earth to heaven
verb
Synonym Usage
See ecstasy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of rapture
Explanation
Rapture is a feeling of emotional ecstasy so magical it's almost as if you've been transported to some other world. Coming to us from an old French word meaning "carried away," rapture certainly involves getting swept off to Shangri-La. It's happiness so extreme that you just about float to heaven, complete with big goofy grin plastered to your face. Traditionally reserved for those feeling spiritual ecstasy, rapture now extends to anyone feeling overwhelmed by emotion — sparked by everything from a passionate kiss to scoring an awesome dress on sale.
Vocabulary lists containing rapture
The Things They Carried
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"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
A recent YouGov poll asked, “If the Rapture were to occur tonight, do you think you would be more likely to ascend to heaven or to be left behind?”
From Salon • Oct. 9, 2025
Three years later, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture whisked them off to a quaint fictional village in the west of England, zigzagging through arable fields and well-ordered front gardens.
From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2024
No one returned a phone message left Saturday at Rapture Guns & Knives, the Lakeland store owned by the Pollock family and where Hutchinson once worked.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2024
In April, Luke Jenner of the rock band the Rapture spoke with Billboard about largely abandoning the music industry to become a life coach.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2023
Rapture inexpressible, except by shrill shrieks and capers.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by Rameur, E.
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.
