euphoria
Americannoun
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a state of intense happiness and self-confidence.
She was flooded with euphoria as she went to the podium to receive her Student Research Award.
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Psychology. a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of euphoria
First recorded in 1880–85; from New Latin, from Greek euphoría “state of well-being”; see eu-, -phore, -ia
Explanation
Use euphoria to describe a feeling of great happiness and well-being, but know that euphoria often more than that––it's unusually, crazy happy, over the top. Euphoria can even be classified as a mental illness. The earliest use of euphoria was to describe the relief provided by a medical procedure. The word was borrowed from New Latin, from the Greek word meaning "ability to bear easily, fertility," from euphoros "healthy," from the prefix eu- "good, well" plus pherein "to bear."
Vocabulary lists containing euphoria
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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:
As with other industries overcome by artificial-intelligence euphoria, the main question is whether these companies might overbuild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The result was worth it, but the euphoria alone might not get you through the next few hours if you have not managed to net the day off.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
“This is a team that deserves a huge respect from me … the way they use this euphoria around them for this World Cup, it’s nice to see this. I really respect them.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
That is a sign of a healthy market, not one drunk on euphoria.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Fadi’s euphoria fizzled like a coal drenched in cold water.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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He had a lifelong loathing of strident nationalists and ethnic divides, of what he called, in one essay, “so-called great leaders and the collective euphorias they excite.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2023
This was a simple gesture, but it helped conjure the vague euphorias of clubland, where the music can feel like a nonstop mystery transmission in an anonymous darkness.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2020
He developed an innate loathing of strident nationalists, of ethnic divides, of “so-called great leaders and the collective euphorias they excite.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2015
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.