rejoice
Americanverb (used without object)
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rejoices,
present (3rd person singular)
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rejoiced,
past participle, past
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rejoicing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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rejoices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rejoiced,
past participle, past
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rejoicing
present participle
verb
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to feel or express great joy or happiness
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archaic (tr) to cause to feel joy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rejoicernoun
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rejoicingnoun
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prerejoiceverb (used without object)
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rejoicefuladjective
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unrejoicedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rejoicesimple
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rejoicessimple
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have rejoicedperfect
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has rejoicedperfect
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am rejoicingprogressive
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are rejoicingprogressive
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is rejoicingprogressive
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have been rejoicingperfect progressive
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has been rejoicingperfect progressive
Past
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rejoicedsimple
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had rejoicedperfect
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was rejoicingprogressive
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were rejoicingprogressive
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had been rejoicingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing rejoice
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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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:
An old book to revisit: Octavia Butler fans, rejoice!
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
But when two rescuers from Chile and the United States finally reached him after more than three days of complex operations, Gil couldn't bring himself to rejoice.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Offill predicts a near future in which readers will once again rejoice in epic novels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
Hanson called the letter "something that the nation can rejoice at".
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
“You must come together, you and your hermanitas. You must rejoice in the strength of sisterhood and return the man to his family.”
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
When a Ferrari driver triumphs in F1, the team's spiritual home of Maranello rejoices.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
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
I don’t think you’ll find a hostage family that rejoices in that.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
Even as she rejoices, “A home in you I’ve found,” the chords circle around a minor key and she sounds cautious, almost disbelieving.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 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
The death of the 31-year-old, who rejoiced in the back and forth of debates, has triggered a range of emotions and nationwide discussions about how to memorialize the conservative icon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Benjamin Rush felt the rain on his face and rejoiced: “The appearance of this rain was like a dove with an olive branch in its mouth.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
In Cabo San Lucas last month, a crowd rejoicing after Mexico’s victory over the Czech Republic rocked a car in the street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 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
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
Loved ones, teachers and school principals are rejoicing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
At Manzanar I suppose there was some rejoicing too.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
