elate
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of elate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English elat “proud, exalted,” from Latin ēlātus “borne away, lifted up,” past participle of efferre “to bear away, lift up,” from ē- e- 1 + ferre “to bear, bring, carry”; for the element -lātus, earlier tlātus (unrecorded), see also thole 2 ( def. ), tolerate ( def. )
Explanation
To elate is to fill with happiness. If you are elated, you are thrilled. You are walking on air. Elate sounds a bit like inflate. Although the words are not related, if you elate someone the feeling is probably a bit like inflating them — filling them with happiness, making them feel as though they're floating above the ground. Not surprisingly, the word's original sixteenth century meaning was "to physically lift or raise up."
Vocabulary lists containing elate
5-letter words, List 1
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As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
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Poems 11.2
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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.
And if you can hear a song as irresistible as “Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat” and not feel your soul elate, you may be a stranger to joy.
From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2020
McQueen worked the way a dreaming brain does, transmuting suppressed instinct into images that can trouble, mystify, and elate.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 21, 2016
“One lives in hope that music is more than mere noise, filling up idle time, whether intending to elate or lament,” he added.
From New York Times • Jun. 10, 2010
Neither the pursuit of records nor the fact that he is the most successful driver in the 22-year his tory of organized drag racing seems to elate him.
From Time Magazine Archive
The recitation of these old scandals seemed to elate her as much as they horrified Doge.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
