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

Here beauty is celebrated with voluptuous rapture, setting the mood for “Oh, Yemanja,” a mythic, watery mother’s prayer from Tania León’s opera “Scourge of Hyacinths.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025

Wolf Alice delivered a crowd-pleasing cover of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams on The Other Stage, but it was their ode to friendship, Bros, that sent the audience into rapture.

From BBC • Jun. 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

Odysseus greeted her with rapture, but she bade him remember how much there was to do and the two settled down to work out a plan.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

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