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delight

American  
[dih-lahyt] / dɪˈlaɪt /

noun

  1. a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture.

    She takes great delight in her job.
    Synonyms:
    delectation, transport
    Antonyms:
    distress

  2. something that gives great pleasure.

    The dance was a delight to see.
    Antonyms:
    disappointment

verb (used with object)

  1. to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly.

    The show delighted everyone.
    Synonyms:
    enrapture, charm

verb (used without object)

  1. to have great pleasure; take pleasure (followed by in or an infinitive).

    She delights in going for long walks in the country.
delight British  
/ dɪˈlaɪt /

verb

  1. (tr) to please greatly

  2. to take great pleasure (in)

"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

noun

  1. extreme pleasure or satisfaction; joy

  2. something that causes this

    music was always his delight
"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

Related Words

See pleasure.

Other Word Forms

  • delighter noun
  • delightingly adverb
  • delightless adjective
  • self-delight noun
  • undelighting adjective

Etymology

Origin of delight

First recorded in 1175–1225; (verb) respelling, after light 1, of earlier delite, Middle English deliten, from Anglo-French deliter, Old French delitier, from Latin delectāre ( delectable ); (noun) respelling (as above) of Middle English delit, from Anglo-French, Old French, derivative of the verb

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.