| English Dictionary |
DELIGHT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does delight mean?
• DELIGHT (noun)
The noun DELIGHT has 2 senses:
1. a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction
2. something or someone that provides a source of happiness
Familiarity information: DELIGHT used as a noun is rare.
• DELIGHT (verb)
The verb DELIGHT has 3 senses:
1. give pleasure to or be pleasing to
2. take delight in
3. hold spellbound
Familiarity information: DELIGHT used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Synonyms:
delectation; delight
Context example:
his delight to see her was obvious to all
Hypernyms ("delight" is a kind of...):
pleasance; pleasure (a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "delight"):
entrancement; ravishment (a feeling of delight at being filled with wonder and enchantment)
amusement (a feeling of delight at being entertained)
Schadenfreude (delight in another person's misfortune)
Derivation:
delight (take delight in)
delight (give pleasure to or be pleasing to)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Something or someone that provides a source of happiness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
Context example:
the new car is a delight
Hypernyms ("delight" is a kind of...):
positive stimulus (a stimulus with desirable consequences)
Derivation:
delight (take delight in)
delight (give pleasure to or be pleasing to)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it delights Past simple: delighted
Past participle: delighted
-ing form: delighting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Give pleasure to or be pleasing to
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
delight; please
Context example:
a pleasing sensation
Hypernyms (to "delight" is one way to...):
gratify; satisfy (make happy or satisfied)
Cause:
like (be fond of)
like (find enjoyable or agreeable)
Verb group:
please (give satisfaction)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delight"):
endear (make attractive or lovable)
delight; enchant; enrapture; enthral; enthrall; ravish; transport (hold spellbound)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The good news will delight her
Derivation:
delight (something or someone that provides a source of happiness)
delight (a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Take delight in
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Synonyms:
Context example:
he delights in his granddaughter
"Delight" entails doing...:
expend; use (use up, consume fully)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delight"):
have a ball; have a good time (enjoy oneself greatly)
wallow (delight greatly in)
live it up (enjoy oneself)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s PP
Sentence example:
Sam and Sue delight over the results of the experiment
Derivation:
delight (something or someone that provides a source of happiness)
delight (a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Hold spellbound
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
delight; enchant; enrapture; enthral; enthrall; ravish; transport
Hypernyms (to "delight" is one way to...):
delight; please (give pleasure to or be pleasing to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The good news will delight her
Context examples
There was a hush over the hall, the students rigid with delight at seeing the high gods on Olympus quarrelling among themselves.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"With pleasure," I replied; and I felt a thrill of artist-delight at the idea of copying from so perfect and radiant a model.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
On this first day he took hold of it with conscious delight in the mastery of his tools.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Beth ate no more, but crept away to sit in her shadowy corner and brood over the delight to come, till the others were ready.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
At least you won’t have Mercury retrograde, so make your list and shop for fun items you know will delight your family and friends.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did, nor could the valet of any new made lord be more delighted with the place he held in society.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
My dearest Catherine, I received your two kind letters with the greatest delight, and have a thousand apologies to make for not answering them sooner.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Holmes gave a cry of delight as he approached it.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He likewise presented me with four hundred and forty-four large pieces of gold (this nation delighting in even numbers), and a red diamond, which I sold in England for eleven hundred pounds.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
She sprang away, yelling with pain, and while he took delight in the smell of burning flesh and hair, he watched her shaking her head and growling wrathfully a score of feet away.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Walls have mice, mice [have] ears." (Afghanistan proverb)
"He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses." (Arabic proverb)
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." (Danish proverb)