Meaning & use
gratitude
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The warm feeling of being thankful when someone helps you or gives you something good.
Grammar: No plural or “a”; say “a feeling of gratitude” for one instance.
Patterns
- feel gratitude to someone
- express gratitude for something
- with gratitude
- out of gratitude
I felt a wave of gratitude when my neighbor brought soup during my illness.
She expressed her gratitude to the volunteers with a handwritten card.
Out of gratitude, he offered to drive them to the airport.
Common combinations
- express gratitude
- The mayor expressed gratitude to everyone who helped after the storm.
- heartfelt gratitude
- The family sent a letter of heartfelt gratitude to the hospital staff.
- gratitude to someone
- Her gratitude to her teacher grew over the years.
- gratitude for something
- He showed gratitude for the second chance he had been given.
- debt of gratitude
- We owe a debt of gratitude to the firefighters.
- show gratitude
- You can show gratitude by listening carefully and saying thank you.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thankfulness
- Very close to gratitude, but often emphasizes the state of being glad rather than thanking a particular person.
- appreciation
- Can mean recognizing value, while gratitude specifically points toward someone who helped or gave something.
- gratefulness
- Nearly the same feeling as gratitude, though slightly less common in everyday speech.
- thanks
- Often names the words or actions used to show gratitude, not only the inner feeling.
Opposites
Word family
- grateful adjective
- Feeling or showing gratitude.
- gratefully adverb
- In a thankful way.
- gratefulness noun
- The quality of being grateful; close to gratitude.
- ingratitude noun
- A failure to show thanks for help or kindness.
- ungrateful adjective
- Not showing thanks when thanks are expected.
Commonly confused: gratitude or grateful? gratitude or appreciation?
gratitude vs grateful
Grateful is the adjective (“I am grateful”); gratitude is the noun (“I feel gratitude”).
gratitude vs appreciation
Appreciation can mean understanding the worth of something, while gratitude is thankfulness toward a person or source of help.
Practice
Which choice is the most natural sentence?
Choose one answer.
Gratitude is uncountable: no article “a,” no plural -s, and not “many.” “She felt deep gratitude” is correct; “a feeling of gratitude” is also possible.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gratitude”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.