Synonyms

rejoice

American

[ri-jois] / rɪˈdʒɔɪs /

verb (used without object)

to be glad; take delight (often followed byin ).

to rejoice in another's happiness.

Synonyms:

glory, exult, revel

verb (used with object)

to make joyful; gladden.

a song to rejoice the heart.

rejoice British

/ rɪˈdʒɔɪs /

verb

to feel or express great joy or happiness
archaic (tr) to cause to feel joy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of rejoice

1275–1325; Middle English rejoicen < Old French rejouiss-, long stem of rejouir, equivalent to re- re- + jouir to rejoice; see joy

Explanation

To rejoice is to be incredibly happy, or to express your incredible happiness. If you just won millions in the lottery, you might rejoice by screaming at the top of your lungs. When you rejoice, you celebrate or feel extreme happiness. You might rejoice after scoring the winning goal in a championship game, or you might rejoice when you receive an amazing gift on your birthday. You’ll often hear this word in the phrase “let us rejoice,” especially in some religious settings.

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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:

rejoice rejoices rejoiced rejoicing

History buffs, rejoice: Can you name the country where the War of the Three Henrys took place from 1585 to 1589?

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

Never mind the quality, just rejoice in the qualification?

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Offill predicts a near future in which readers will once again rejoice in epic novels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

"You rejoice and cry, and you tremble inside from the emotion -- seeing those eyes that are both sad and joyful and filled with tears," she told AFP during a recent prisoner exchange.

From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026

Thomas wanted to ache for Chuck, get excited about their escape, rejoice that Teresa was there with him.

From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

As energy bills soar elsewhere in the world, "Our property manager has announced a 20 percent reduction in heating and hot water bills for 2026 and 2027," rejoices the 69-year-old retiree.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

“My heart breaks for my brother who’s no longer with us but it rejoices knowing he’s with his fellow warriors in Valhalla drinking and fighting with Odin,” she wrote in another post on Instagram.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024

I don’t think you’ll find a hostage family that rejoices in that.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023

Francis, 86, quoted from a writings of the Buddha that says "the wise man rejoices in giving", noting it was similar to Jesus' saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive".

From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023

“Indeed! This worthless one rejoices that it is so. And what of my revered friend, your half brother and protector, Gebu the stonecutter? Is he also well?”

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

"The theory not only reproduces the experiment but also provides the basis for guiding future discoveries in this system," rejoiced Schiró.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

He rejoiced that “slavery has reached the limits of expansion” and that “the fate of the experiment of republican government” was no longer in danger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Machete in hand, Romee resident Jean-Paul Bitilaongi rejoiced at their successful bid to keep the forest out of reach of the "rich people" he says are trying to plunder it.

From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026

While many motorcylists rejoiced at the reopening of the Snake this week, some residents mourned the end of a tranquil era.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025

I rejoiced in teaching young people about linear equations and graphs.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Fans are rejoicing because Scotland is playing in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

"Everybody was rejoicing to know that we get saved because we thought we were going to die," Olympia Outten, one of the passengers on the plane, said afterwards.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

There was much rejoicing and the oil was able to flow once more and prices returned almost to where they had been before the strait was closed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

Benjamin Samat, a French influencer living in Dubai, took to Instagram to lash out at "those who on social media are rejoicing that the French are going through this".

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

He was a good fellow, but his rejoicing at the one little part—in which he was officially interested—of so great a tragedy, was an object-lesson in the limitations of sympathetic understanding.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023