cheer

The word “cheer” means a shout of approval, encouragement, or celebration. In plain terms, either a shout of support, or a general sense of happiness — and as a verb, to encourage loudly or lift someone's mood.

“Cheer” is pronounced cheer (/t͡ʃɪɹ/ in IPA).

Here is “cheer” used in a sentence: “The crowd let out a huge cheer when the home team scored.”

Words with a similar meaning to “cheer” include acclaim, acclamate, applaud, hail, barrack and beclap.

The opposite of “cheer” — its antonyms — are heckle, jeer at and sneer.

Depending on how it is used, “cheer” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “cheer” comes from Old French. From Old French chiere, meaning "face" or "expression", which came to mean a person's mood and later shifted to mean encouragement and good spirits.

“Cheer” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

To cheer someone on is to shout in support or approval, such as encouraging a runner during a race. To cheer someone up is to make them happier when they are feeling low. The first is about vocal encouragement; the second is about lifting someone's mood.

To applaud is to show approval by clapping, while to cheer is to show approval by shouting. In practice the two often happen together, and both can be used figuratively for praising a decision or achievement. Cheering is generally the louder, more exuberant of the two.