rapture
Americannoun
-
raptures
plural
-
ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy.
- Synonyms:
- exaltation, transport, beatitude, bliss
- Antonyms:
- misery
-
Often raptures. an utterance or expression of ecstatic delight.
-
the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.
-
Theology. the Rapture, the experience, anticipated by some fundamentalist Christians, of meeting Christ midway in the air upon his return to earth.
-
Archaic. the act of carrying off.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the state of mind resulting from feelings of high emotion; joyous ecstasy
-
(often plural) an expression of ecstatic joy
-
the act of transporting a person from one sphere of existence to another, esp from earth to heaven
verb
Synonym Usage
See ecstasy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rapture
Explanation
Rapture is a feeling of emotional ecstasy so magical it's almost as if you've been transported to some other world. Coming to us from an old French word meaning "carried away," rapture certainly involves getting swept off to Shangri-La. It's happiness so extreme that you just about float to heaven, complete with big goofy grin plastered to your face. Traditionally reserved for those feeling spiritual ecstasy, rapture now extends to anyone feeling overwhelmed by emotion — sparked by everything from a passionate kiss to scoring an awesome dress on sale.
Vocabulary lists containing rapture
The Things They Carried
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Beowulf vocabulary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
It was a celestial explosion for a tournament, sending the sport into rapture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
In Disney, Dudamel’s “Resurrection” had the quality of rapture in surround sound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
Let’s replace Broadway with a bunch of rinks—and ask Stanley Cup hockey teams to send us all into the riveted rapture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2025
His ideas were "received with rapture" by the prime minister's secretary PN Dhar.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2025
“Mr. Rochester, I will love you and live with you through life till death,” and a fount of rapture would spring to my lips.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Kupcho repeated her heroics with another monster, winning the match and sending the whole US team into raptures around the green.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
This time the celebration wasn't as muted as he raised his arm aloft, club still in hand, as the crowd went into raptures.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
Little moments had the home fans in raptures.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
For an opera steeped in raptures and reveries, in which fantasies of romantic bliss compete with premonitions of a pessimistic outcome, Sierra and Bernheim were a dream at the revival’s second performance on Sunday.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
Dad continued with his raptures, oblivious to the effect he was having on his listeners.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
It was me who managed to spill a glass of water over the notes Mourinho waved to a raptured audience at his unveiling news conference.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2024
When I was 10 I thought I was going to get raptured into heaven.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2021
The future of the web is at stake The end of those cookies is called the Cookiepocalypse, and it’s apocalyptic because nobody really knows what advertisers will do once those tracking methods are raptured.
From The Verge ● Apr. 16, 2021
Yet even CBS’s team carried themselves as if they just found out all of the babies, puppies and kittens in the world suddenly raptured.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2018
Once, when I raptured in a violet glow given off by the Queen of the World, my father asked me why, and I thought he was crazy not to see.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Nor ever again did her genius shine out in rapturing periods till she drew inspiration from the grand environment of the old homestead.
From Idle Hour Stories by Eugenia Dunlap Potts
There also the birds warbled, with various voices, notes ravishing and rapturing the heart by the melodies of their musick.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 13 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
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.
