CELEBRATE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does celebrate mean? 

• CELEBRATE (verb)
  The verb CELEBRATE has 3 senses:

1. behave as expected during of holidays or rites

2. have a celebration

3. assign great social importance to

  Familiarity information: CELEBRATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CELEBRATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they celebrate    ... he / she / it celebrates   
Past simple: celebrated   
Past participle: celebrated   
-ing form: celebrating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave as expected during of holidays or rites

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

celebrate; keep; observe

Context example:

Observe Yom Kippur

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "celebrate"):

commemorate; mark (celebrate by some ceremony or observation)

mourn (observe the customs of mourning after the death of a loved one)

solemnise; solemnize (observe or perform with dignity or gravity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

celebrant (a person who is celebrating)

celebration (any joyous diversion)

celebration (the public performance of a sacrament or solemn ceremony with all appropriate ritual)

celebration (a joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event)

celebrator (a person who is celebrating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have a celebration

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

celebrate; fete

Context example:

After the exam, the students were celebrating

Hypernyms (to "celebrate" is one way to...):

get together; meet (get together socially or for a specific purpose)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "celebrate"):

jubilate (celebrate a jubilee)

jollify; make happy; make merry; make whoopie; racket; revel; wassail; whoop it up (celebrate noisily, often indulging in drinking; engage in uproarious festivities)

party (have or participate in a party)

receive (have or give a reception)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

celebrant (a person who is celebrating)

celebration (any joyous diversion)

celebration (a joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event)

celebrator (a person who is celebrating)

celebratory (used for celebrating)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Assign great social importance to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

celebrate; lionise; lionize

Context example:

The tenor was lionized in Vienna

Hypernyms (to "celebrate" is one way to...):

abide by; honor; honour; observe; respect (show respect towards)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Life is good for you, dear Libra—celebrate the incoming New Year.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

But Iceland’s most celebrated medieval poem, Vǫluspá (‘The prophecy of the seeress’) does appear to give an impression of what the eruption was like.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)

Thereupon the wedding was celebrated, and the lion was again taken into favour, because, after all, he had told the truth.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

London was our present point of rest; we determined to remain several months in this wonderful and celebrated city.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

These rapid successes, gained one after the other over four celebrated warriors, worked the crowd up to a pitch of wonder and admiration.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We are here to-night, said he, not only to celebrate the past glories of the prize ring, but also to arrange some sport for the future.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In a hard and warlike time he was celebrate that he have more iron nerve, more subtle brain, more braver heart, than any man.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the drawing-room Miss Crawford was also celebrated.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

My character has ever been celebrated for its sincerity and frankness, and in a cause of such moment as this, I shall certainly not depart from it.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)