rapture

American  

[rap-cher] / ˈræp tʃər /

noun

1. ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy.

   Synonyms:

   exaltation, transport, beatitude, bliss

   Antonyms:

   misery

2. Often raptures. an utterance or expression of ecstatic delight.

3. the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.

4. Theology. the Rapture, the experience, anticipated by some fundamentalist Christians, of meeting Christ midway in the air upon his return to earth.

5. Archaic. the act of carrying off.

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verb (used with object)

raptured, rapturing

1. to enrapture.

rapture British  

/ ˈræptʃə /

noun

1. the state of mind resulting from feelings of high emotion; joyous ecstasy

2. (often plural) an expression of ecstatic joy

3. the act of transporting a person from one sphere of existence to another, esp from earth to heaven

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verb

1. archaic (tr) to entrance; enrapture

Related Words

See ecstasy.

Other Word Forms

• raptureless adjective

Etymology

Origin of rapture

First recorded in 1590–1600; rapt + -ure

Example Sentences

There was enough hope in everyday life to hold onto, and the starry-eyed vision of the future made the rapture’s fearmongering futile.

From Salon

In Disney, Dudamel’s “Resurrection” had the quality of rapture in surround sound.

From Los Angeles Times

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

She wrote, “I was completely inhabiting my body. It was an entirely unfamiliar freedom, bodily freedom, rapture.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Hearing that performance live left me in a state of rapture.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• communion
• contentment
• ecstasy
• elation
• euphoria
• exaltation
• exhilaration