triumphant
Americanadjective
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having achieved victory or success; victorious; successful.
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exulting over victory; rejoicing over success; exultant.
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Archaic. triumphal.
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Obsolete. splendid; magnificent.
adjective
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experiencing or displaying triumph
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exultant through triumph
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obsolete
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magnificent
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triumphal
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Usage
What does triumphant mean? Triumphant means experiencing, celebrating, or having achieved a triumph—an especially significant or noteworthy victory or success.Triumph is also commonly used as a verb meaning to win, succeed, or be victorious in an epic or spectacular way. Sometimes, it means to conquer. In this case, it’s often used with the word over, and triumphant is used in the same way. An army can be triumphant over enemy forces. In stories, good is triumphant over evil. A person might be said to be triumphant over cancer.Triumphant is especially used in situations in which victory or success has come after great difficulty, adversity, or sacrifice, or over an opponent considered difficult to defeat.Triumphant can describe a person who is or has been victorious, as in They returned to their hometown triumphant, entering to the cheers of the adoring crowd. Sometimes, triumphant describes the state of joy or celebration following a victory or success that is considered a triumph, as in A triumphant feeling filled her as she realized she had won the election. Triumphant can describe something considered a great achievement, as in Her latest novel is triumphant—a masterpiece in every way. The similar adjective triumphal means involving, relating to, or celebrating a triumph.Example: We will not rest until we are triumphant—when we finally victorious over the forces of evil.
Other Word Forms
- triumphantly adverb
- untriumphant adjective
Etymology
Origin of triumphant
First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin triumphant-, stem of triumphāns, present participle of triumphāre “to triumph”; triumph, -ant
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.
Why did he have to make an example of a player who was understandably overeager on what could have been one of the triumphant nights of his life?
From Los Angeles Times
Maggie Thatcher came a few years before Reagan, but they were closely allied and historically linked as figureheads of the triumphant New Right.
From Salon
A mixed bag of eye-catching imagery and formulaic writing, “Goat” disappoints because it follows every expected path toward a triumphant conclusion.
From Los Angeles Times
Camille is pounding away on the keyboard, sighing when someone lives in the wrong zip code and taking a triumphant bite of pasta when she finds a possibility.
From Literature
"They believed in me ever since the beginning of training camp. That was our mindset every single day we came to work," said the 28-year-old, of his triumphant debut year in Seattle.
From Barron's
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.
