congratulate
congratulate Lexical Profile
congratulate Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To express praise, pleasure, or good wishes to someone on the occasion of a success, achievement, or happy event.
"The committee gathered to congratulate the lead researcher on her groundbreaking discovery."
To feel pride or satisfaction in oneself for a fortunate outcome or clever action (used reflexively).
"He congratulated himself on having the foresight to back up all the digital files before the outage."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Congratulate' takes the preposition 'on' (or occasionally 'for') followed by a noun or gerund (e.g., 'congratulate her on winning'), and unlike 'hope' or 'wish', it cannot be followed by a 'that'-clause or an infinitive.
• Rhymes for congratulate
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century from Latin congratulari ('to wish joy'), formed from com- ('together') and gratulari ('to manifest joy'), from gratus ('pleasing' or 'agreeable').