rejoice
Americanverb (used without object)
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rejoices,
present (3rd person singular)
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rejoiced,
past participle, past
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rejoicing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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rejoices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rejoiced,
past participle, past
-
rejoicing
present participle
verb
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to feel or express great joy or happiness
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archaic (tr) to cause to feel joy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rejoicernoun
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rejoicingnoun
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prerejoiceverb (used without object)
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rejoicefuladjective
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unrejoicedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rejoicesimple
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rejoicessimple
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have rejoicedperfect
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has rejoicedperfect
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am rejoicingprogressive
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are rejoicingprogressive
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is rejoicingprogressive
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have been rejoicingperfect progressive
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has been rejoicingperfect progressive
Past
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rejoicedsimple
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had rejoicedperfect
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was rejoicingprogressive
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were rejoicingprogressive
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had been rejoicingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rejoice
1275–1325; Middle English rejoicen < Old French rejouiss-, long stem of rejouir, equivalent to re- re- + jouir to rejoice; see joy
Explanation
To rejoice is to be incredibly happy, or to express your incredible happiness. If you just won millions in the lottery, you might rejoice by screaming at the top of your lungs. When you rejoice, you celebrate or feel extreme happiness. You might rejoice after scoring the winning goal in a championship game, or you might rejoice when you receive an amazing gift on your birthday. You’ll often hear this word in the phrase “let us rejoice,” especially in some religious settings.
Vocabulary lists containing rejoice
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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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.
See Examples For:
An old book to revisit: Octavia Butler fans, rejoice!
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
But when two rescuers from Chile and the United States finally reached him after more than three days of complex operations, Gil couldn't bring himself to rejoice.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Never mind the quality, just rejoice in the qualification?
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Offill predicts a near future in which readers will once again rejoice in epic novels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
“I cannot rejoice in my strength while yours weakens,” I reply.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
As energy bills soar elsewhere in the world, "Our property manager has announced a 20 percent reduction in heating and hot water bills for 2026 and 2027," rejoices the 69-year-old retiree.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
“My heart breaks for my brother who’s no longer with us but it rejoices knowing he’s with his fellow warriors in Valhalla drinking and fighting with Odin,” she wrote in another post on Instagram.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
I don’t think you’ll find a hostage family that rejoices in that.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
He rejoices at a fresh snowfall, gleefully explores his home and country with a snowman who magically comes alive and, in a crushing final panel, stares down at a green hat and scarf.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
Every human culture rejoices in the fact that there are cycles in nature.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
"The theory not only reproduces the experiment but also provides the basis for guiding future discoveries in this system," rejoiced Schiró.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
The streets of Paraguay erupted Monday as people rejoiced in beating powerhouse Germany in the World Cup and the president declared a national holiday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Last year, the Montclair, N.J.-based creative director rejoiced when she agreed to let him arrange a Lego winter village on their mantel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025
“All the days of my life I have seen nothing that rejoiced my heart so much as these things,” the German artist wrote of Cortés’ plunder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025
Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was and his heart rejoiced.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
Later in the game, Cleveland’s José Ramírez was seen in the dugout apparently imitating Yan’s airborne style of rejoicing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Everybody was rejoicing to know that we get saved because we thought we were going to die," Olympia Outten, one of the passengers on the plane, said afterwards.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
“Market participants are rejoicing as they head into the weekend.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Benjamin Samat, a French influencer living in Dubai, took to Instagram to lash out at "those who on social media are rejoicing that the French are going through this".
From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026
At Manzanar I suppose there was some rejoicing too.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
