delighted

1. 1
   adjective

   Feeling great pleasure and happiness about something.

   The committee was delighted by the huge turnout at the fundraiser.

   He felt delighted when he heard that the loan had been approved.

   Similarpleased, thrilled, overjoyed, happy, glad

   Oppositedisappointed, dismayed, unhappy, displeased

   Note

   The adjective grew out of the verb's past participle, and it keeps the participle's habit of taking a preposition: delighted with a guest, a pairing Elvis Presley sings in "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), or delighted by a turnout. It compares with more and most, never with -er and -est. In the conditional, would be delighted, it describes pleasure at something not yet given.

2. 2
   adjective

   Filled with wonder and a sense of great joy at something.

   Visitors stood delighted before the strange, glowing beauty of the cave.

   The whole audience sat delighted as the dancers spun across the stage.

   Similarthrilled, overjoyed, joyful, ecstatic, elated

   Oppositebored, unimpressed, indifferent

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past tense and past participle of delight.

   The magician delighted everyone with his final, impossible trick.

   For years she delighted in long, quiet walks by the river.

   Note

   Because delight is a regular verb, one spelling serves both forms: she delighted the crowd, she has delighted the crowd. The transitive verb means to please someone and takes a direct object. The intransitive verb means to take great pleasure and is followed by in, as in she delighted in long walks. In the passive, was delighted by, the form slides toward the "greatly pleased" adjective, and the two can be hard to tell apart.

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