elate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
elates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
elated,
past participle, past
-
elating
present participle
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
elatesimple
-
elatessimple
-
have elatedperfect
-
has elatedperfect
-
am elatingprogressive
-
are elatingprogressive
-
is elatingprogressive
-
have been elatingperfect progressive
-
has been elatingperfect progressive
Past
-
elatedsimple
-
had elatedperfect
-
was elatingprogressive
-
were elatingprogressive
-
had been elatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
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
Missing are the wit and verve, the "elate darting rhythms" with which Shaw said Mozart conveyed the spirit of the work.
From Time Magazine Archive
She said the autumn never failed to amaze her; to elate.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
You go your way heedless, uncaring — as if you owned all the treasures of the world; even grief elates you, even sorrow sits well upon your brow.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2016
In a nation ravaged by corruption, lashed by typhoons, and beaten down by poverty, nothing unites and elates the populace like Manny Pacquiao.
From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2009
The bulk of the reportage for the cover naturally came from Bonn Bureau Chief Benjamin Cate, whose assignment to the West German capital elates from Sept.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bobby elates the disenchanted with his blanket condemnation of the way things are, but his alternatives for the most part are either vague or on the safe side.
From Time Magazine Archive
All right, Admiral Julius, 'Go where Glory waits ye,' as Tommy Moore says, and 'when Fame elates thee, then remember me,' that's all.
From In the Yellow Sea by Henry Frith
Shortly after Diana’s death in 1997, Spencer wrote that he spoke by phone to Charles, who he said seemed strangely elated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
During one self-reflective moment, Bryan yells, “Yeah! Video games!” elated at how his shooting is improving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has claimed King Charles "sounded giddily elated" when he called him after her death in 1997.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The Australian parents of a woman reported missing in devastating floods that struck Nepal said Sunday they were "elated" and relieved after their daughter was found safe and sound.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Girls weren’t supposed to use them, but Nhamo was so elated, she didn’t care.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Instead, once his deal with the Dodgers was finalized, Hernández tweeted out the news himself, elating Dodger fans by writing, “Sources say….. I’m back!!!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
And it's maddening when you can't do it every time, but it's elating when you can do it at all.
From Fox News ● Apr. 3, 2021
It’s elating, or overwhelming, depending on your experience.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2017
She and Dutoit and the orchestra were in elating rapport.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 29, 2016
What I felt was one part jet lag, maybe, but two parts something more profound and elating.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
