ENGLISH
REFERENCE

congratulate

v.
US //kənˈɡɹætʃəˌɫeɪt// UK //kənɡɹˈætʃʊlˌeɪt// con·grat·u·late
  1. 1 to praise someone (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to tell someone you are happy for them because they have achieved something or something good happened.

    to express sympathetic pleasure or praise to someone on the occasion of their success or good fortune.

    Example

    I called my sister to congratulate her on passing her driving test.

    Example

    The CEO personally congratulated the design team on their innovative approach, which had secured the firm's largest contract to date.

    Usage

    Usually takes the preposition 'on' followed by a noun or a gerund.
    Pitfall
    I congratulated him for his new job.
    I congratulated him on his new job.

    In English, you congratulate someone 'on' an event or achievement, not 'for' it.

  2. 2 to feel proud of yourself (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to feel happy or lucky about a choice you made or a situation you are in.

    to consider oneself fortunate or to take pride in one's own judgment or luck; used reflexively with 'myself', 'yourself', etc.

    Example

    You should congratulate yourself for finishing such a difficult project on time.

    Example

    He congratulated himself on his foresight in booking the flights early, as prices tripled only a week later.

    Usage

    Always used with a reflexive pronoun like 'myself', 'himself', or 'themselves'.
Origin

First attested in 1548; borrowed from Latin congrātulātus, the perfect active participle of Latin grātulor (“to wish joice, rejoice (with); to congratulate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from con- + grātulor, from grātus (“grateful, pleasing, agreeable, beloved”) + -or. By surface analysis, con- + gratulate.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

Last updated June 20, 2026