Meaning & use

congratulate

verb·Everyday

To express praise or good wishes to someone for an achievement or happy occasion.

See it in a sentence

Friends and family gathered to congratulate the graduates on their achievement.

He sent a card to congratulate his colleague on the new job.

A note on using this word

Congratulate takes a direct object for the person and 'on' for the achievement, as in 'congratulate her on her promotion.'

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “congratulate”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.