ovation
Americannoun
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ovations
plural
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an enthusiastic public reception of a person, marked especially by loud and prolonged applause.
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Roman History. the ceremonial entrance into Rome of a commander whose victories were of a lesser degree of importance than that for which a triumph was accorded.
noun
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an enthusiastic reception, esp one of prolonged applause
a standing ovation
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a victory procession less glorious than a triumph awarded to a Roman general
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ovation
1525–35; < Latin ovātiōn- (stem of ovātiō ) a rejoicing, shouting, equivalent to ovāt ( us ) (past participle of ovāre to rejoice) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Hear that applause and cries of "Bravo"? Your audience is giving you an ovation, or praise for a great performance. The noun ovation has origins in the Latin word ovare, meaning "exult, rejoice, triumph.” Ancient Romans used it to describe a ceremony honoring a general entering Rome following a minor triumph. By the 19th century, ovation had taken on the more specific meaning, "a display of appreciation and applause from an audience." Today, especially great performers get standing ovations, which means the audience rises from their seats as they clap.
Vocabulary lists containing ovation
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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:
She let it out and earned an ovation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
His remarks drew an ovation from 1,500 guests at Havana’s Palace of Conventions, including delegates from Communist parties stretching from Chile to China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
US-indicted Cuban leader Raul Castro received a standing ovation as he appeared in public for the first time in months Thursday, attending an event in Havana to mark the centenary of his brother Fidel's birth.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The board then voted unanimously to grant him the emeritus title and gave him a standing ovation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
When she acknowledged that the recognition by the University of Wisconsin was the first they had received, the audience gave the women a standing ovation.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Standing ovations are almost de rigueur in formal Washington, but I don’t think I ever heard one of such prolonged intensity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, got two standing ovations from the hundreds of attendees in the room at the CeraWeek conference put on by S&P Global.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
The ovations were strong and heartfelt, the mutual appreciation, well, blindingly obvious.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
And don’t get me started on the endless, infantile standing ovations.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026
The mother used to go to all the poetry readings her daughter gave in town and sit in the front row applauding each poem and giving standing ovations.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
