Dictionary / grateful
grateful
- adjective
- formed in English
Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “grateful” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
adjective
- Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
I’m grateful that you helped me out.
Older & obsolete senses (1)
- archaicOf a thing or (obsolete) person: pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable, pleasant, welcome.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (2)
- adjectivefeeling or showing gratitude — also: thankful
- adjectiveaffording comfort or pleasure
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)grateful
- Englishgrate + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality)
From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, pleasing; beloved, dear; grateful, thankful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to express approval, praise; to elevate”).
Derivatives — words built from “grateful”
Related terms
Want to go deeper? See also “grateful” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “grateful” came from before it was English.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Wiktionary’s etymology does not give a separate meaning for the earliest form of “grateful”, so we don’t state one. The historical dictionary entry below shows how the word was understood in 1913.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
grateful a. [Grate, a. + full; cf. F. gr thanks, good will, fr. L. gratum, neut. of gratus agreeable, grateful. See Grate, a.]
- Having a due sense of benefits received; kindly disposed toward one from whom a favor has been received; willing to acknowledge and repay, or give thanks for, benefits; as, a grateful heart.
- Affording pleasure; pleasing to the senses; gratifying; delicious; as, a grateful present; food grateful to the palate; grateful sleep.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
adjectiveMeaning: Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
I’m grateful that you helped me out.
I am touched—made grateful—proud—yes, truly proud—by your confessed affection—but— […]1833, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Interview—The Crisis of a Life”, in Godolphin. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, book II, page 199:
adjectiveMeaning: feeling or showing gratitude
a grateful heart
grateful for the tree's shade
adjectiveMeaning: affording comfort or pleasure
the grateful warmth of the fire
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
grateful
/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/ · grate·ful
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
grateful
/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/ · grate·ful · adjective
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “grateful” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “grateful” and what each means:
Step 4 — Original meaning
Read the etymology on the page. What does it tell you about the word’s earlier meaning?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 5 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — grateful
Origin: D. English
Journey: English grateful ← English grate + -ful
Some derivatives: gratefully, gratefulness, ingrateful, overgrateful, pergrateful, ungrateful
Etymology: From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, pleasing; beloved, dear; grateful, thankful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to express approval, praise; to elevate”).
Sources: Wiktionary “grateful” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grateful#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/grateful