Cheer

How to spell cheer

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cheer

What does cheer mean?

1. verbTo shout in approval or encouragement, or to comfort and gladden someone.
2. nounA shout of joy or encouragement, or a feeling of gladness and good spirits.

Cheer in a sentence

• verb

  The whole stadium began to cheer as the runner crossed the line.

• noun

  A great cheer went up from the audience as the winner was announced.

• verb

  A warm meal and good company can cheer anyone after a hard day.

• noun

  The bright decorations filled the office with festive cheer.

Where does cheer come from?

Language of origin: French

Cheer entered English in the 1200s from the Old French word chiere, which meant 'face' or 'facial expression', and that French word came in turn from the Late Latin cara, also meaning 'face'. At first the English word simply described the look on someone's face, so a person could have a sad cheer or a glad cheer; the phrase 'be of good cheer' preserves this older sense of mood or disposition. Over time the positive uses crowded out the neutral ones, and cheer came to mean gladness and the bright spirits shown on a happy face. From there it grew the everyday meaning of a shout of approval and the verb for raising someone's spirits or shouting encouragement. The unusual leap from 'face' to 'happy noise' is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the early ch- and the -eer ending rather than anything phonetically obvious.

How the word is built

• cheer (from Old French chiere: face, expression, later mood and gladness)