exult
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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to be joyful or jubilant, esp because of triumph or success; rejoice
-
(often foll by over) to triumph (over); show or take delight in the defeat or discomfiture (of)
Usage
What does exult mean? Exult means to express or experience triumph or happiness, as in The gambler always exults after winning the big jackpot. Exult can be confused for the similarly spelled word exalt. Exalt has several meanings, including to elevate in rank, power or quality and to praise. Example: Your project winning a national contest is something to exult about!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
exultsimple
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exultssimple
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have exultedperfect
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has exultedperfect
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am exultingprogressive
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are exultingprogressive
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is exultingprogressive
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have been exultingperfect progressive
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has been exultingperfect progressive
Past
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exultedsimple
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had exultedperfect
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was exultingprogressive
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were exultingprogressive
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had been exultingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exult
1560–70; < Latin ex ( s ) ultāre to leap up, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + -sultāre (combining form of saltāre to leap)
Explanation
Sometimes you might feel so happy about something you could just burst. This is the time to exult, or rejoice, and you might show your great happiness by laughing, dancing, and shouting with pure joy. To exult means to express your joy in some visible way. Some people exult in a sedate manner, maybe just enjoying their happiness quietly within themselves. Others are more emotional, perhaps expressing their triumph in a loud or physical manner. When you break the word down into its Latin parts, the ex- means "out," and saltāre means "to leap." So exult means to leap with joy.
Vocabulary lists containing exult
List 5
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Hatchet
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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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:
The former Radio Disney teen heartthrob, raised Mormon and now openly gay, trades the bruised introspection of 2023’s “Calico” for songs that exult in desire on his new album, “Sweet Fortune.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In another refrain found in many poems, the women exult: “I have become cool, free.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Frankie and Zeke exult in their profundity, but the real triumph here is Wilson’s.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2022
They would exult in the stark beauty of the landscape, spend oodles of money in local restaurants, bars and hotels, and then go home again — hopefully without driving up housing prices too much.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2022
Most of the time, though, I exult, and think I have had a narrow escape.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Unlike Hoover Dam, which exults in exertion, the Gateway Arch seems effortless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
“Adventure, risk, transformation,” she exults, forever on the lookout for her next metamorphosis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
When Curran is indeed killed, the opportunity to investigate an “actual murder” so excites Joyce that she runs to wake her new friends for an “emergency meeting” — “Isn’t it wonderful?” she exults.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025
Her low, troubled voice starts to leap upward as she exults, “I want to be alone/I’m happy on my own.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2022
"What did I say?" exults Hugo, clapping his hands.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Others have exulted that AI will free us from busywork—and perhaps all work entirely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
“We did it!” a family member exulted to lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
As for Conlon, he found Still’s groove and exulted in everything flowery about Zemlinsky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
Having dreaded the worst, Pakistan exulted with relief and pride over the daring rescue.
From Reuters ● Aug. 23, 2023
I exulted at having a dorado at the end of my line— I would be less keen if it were a tiger.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Mr. Herzog is interested in everything, and makes everything interesting, exulting in all of the world’s settings, the stranger the better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
We need to take the next step, which is to say that they are breaking systems and exulting in it.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2026
Meanwhile, Californians continue to move in, exulting in the lower cost of living while driving up prices for lifelong residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
She walked away exulting because slow, hip-rolling grannies can’t do what she does.
From Washington Post ● May 7, 2022
All Thebes was exulting that the man who had brought war upon them should be thus terribly punished.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
