verb
felicitate
fuh-LIS-ih-tayt/fəˈlɪsɪteɪt/
To express congratulations to someone.
The mayor felicitates the graduates on their achievements at the ceremony.
Etymology
The source verb meant making someone happy. English also used felicitate for reckoning someone happy, and its congratulatory sense acknowledges another person's happiness or good fortune on a happy occasion.
In context
I shall not felicitate you I shall not congratulate you I shall not compliment you for your action was at the very least Superfluous
More examples
- We felicitate you on your appointment as director.
- The ambassador felicitated the couple on their golden anniversary.
- She opens her speech by felicitating this year's award winners.
Forms
felicitate · felicitates · felicitated · felicitating
felicitation noun — A formal expression of congratulations.
Similar words
- congratulate
- The usual everyday choice; felicitate is distinctly formal.