Jubilants

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Individuals who show or feel extreme happiness and celebration
2. Persons who exhibit overwhelming gladness and exultation
3. Those who express a strong sense of joy and victorious delight

Etymology: Jubilee comes from the Hebrew "yobel," the ram's horn whose blast announced the year of release in the Hebrew Bible. Latin writers borrowed the idea as "jubilaeus," and it came to be associated with "jubilare," "to shout for joy," which is likely where the joyful sense of the English word comes from. Jubilant comes from that Latin verb's present participle, "jubilans," so the word carries the sense of a loud, shouting celebration. "Jubilants" is the plural of this word used as a noun, so it refers to the people who are jubilant rather than to the quality itself. English often turns adjectives like this into plural nouns for a group, as with "the elderly" or "the bereaved."

Synonyms: joyful, elated

Antonyms: sorrowful, dejected