grateful

[greyt-fuhl]

adjective

1. warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful.

   I am grateful to you for your help.

   Synonyms: indebted, obliged

2. expressing or actuated by gratitude.

   a grateful letter.

3. pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable; welcome.

   a grateful breeze;

   The peace and calm of the hill country is a grateful relief.

   Synonyms: gratifying, pleasant

grateful

/ ˈɡreɪtfʊl /

adjective

1. thankful for gifts, favours, etc; appreciative

2. showing gratitude

   a grateful letter

3. favourable or pleasant

   a grateful rest

Other Word Forms

• gratefulness noun
• gratefully adverb
• overgrateful adjective
• overgratefully adverb
• quasi-grateful adjective
• quasi-gratefully adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of grateful¹

First recorded in 1545–55; obsolete grate “pleasing” (from Latin grātus ) + -ful

Word History and Origins

Origin of grateful¹

C16: from obsolete grate, from Latin grātus + _-ful

Synonym Study

Grateful, thankful describe an appreciative attitude for what one has received. Grateful indicates a warm or deep appreciation of personal kindness as shown to one: grateful for favors; grateful to one's neighbors for help in time of trouble. Thankful indicates a disposition to express gratitude by giving thanks, as to a benefactor or to a merciful Providence; there is often a sense of deliverance as well as of appreciation: thankful that one's life was spared in an accident; thankful for the comfort of one's general situation.

Example Sentences

At the time, Lorre said in a statement that he was grateful to have “such an incredibly wise, experienced and vaguely ruthless guy at the helm of this thing.”

From Los Angeles Times

Rachel added that she was incredibly grateful to the home for accommodating their request.

From BBC

"There's a lot of people who don't get here – but I have tenacity. I have resilience, which I'm very grateful for, because no matter how many times I've fallen down, I've bounced up again."

From BBC

“I am grateful for the overwhelming love and solidarity I have received. Every worker deserves a peaceful commute,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

“I feel the connection. And I just feel like this is my hometown, these are my people, and I’m just very grateful.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• beholden 
• indebted 
• pleased www.thesaurus.com
• thankful 

When To Use

Spelling tips for grateful

The word grateful is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it is tempting to spell grate- "great." Second, people often want to add an additional l to the end of the word -ful. How to spell grateful: When you are grateful, you are full of gratitude. The beginning of the words are similar. This helps you remember that grateful is spelled grate- instead of great-. It's important to be grateful for what Little you have, which is why you only need one l at the end of the word.