1
a
: appreciative of benefits received : feeling or showing thanks
b
: expressing gratitude
a grateful smile
2
b
: pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated
… shy wild creatures are at home beneath the grateful lights and shadows of the woods, rejoicing in their fullness of perfect life!—
John Muir
John Muir
gratefulness
noun
Examples of grateful in a Sentence
The voice quacking at the other end of the line sounded surprised and grateful—a young man's eager voice, thankful for the sudden interruption on an otherwise empty afternoon.
—Paul Theroux, Granta, Summer 1992
I didn't have to be in love with the man to do this, and my poor body'd probably be grateful to get fed, since it'd been on such a starvation diet.
—Terry McMillan, Waiting to Exhale, 1992
Sergeant James Smith was a company clerk, which meant that he carried his commander's maps, Edwards was grateful to learn.
—Tom Clancy, Red Storm Rising, 1986
I am grateful for the Latin I took and for the emphasis on English grammar, which seems to have faded from the curriculum.
—John Updike, Hugging the Shore, (1983) 1984
The college sent us a grateful acknowledgment of our donation.
I'm grateful to you for your help.
He's grateful for the attention.
Paul Theroux, Granta, Summer 1992
I didn't have to be in love with the man to do this, and my poor body'd probably be grateful to get fed, since it'd been on such a starvation diet.
—Terry McMillan, Waiting to Exhale, 1992
Sergeant James Smith was a company clerk, which meant that he carried his commander's maps, Edwards was grateful to learn.
—Tom Clancy, Red Storm Rising, 1986
I am grateful for the Latin I took and for the emphasis on English grammar, which seems to have faded from the curriculum.
—John Updike, Hugging the Shore, (1983) 1984
The college sent us a grateful acknowledgment of our donation.
I'm grateful to you for your help.
He's grateful for the attention.
Recent Examples on the Web
Dina Skinner, 54, a single mother of a 19-year-old in Princeton was grateful to have someone buy her groceries.
—Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Chesney stays grounded, grateful and faithful, in pursuit of the simple joys in life, living largely by the mantra of his memoir, .
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
But the actor remains grateful.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
The result is a comedy that’s both precise and unhinged, absurdly funny yet emotionally true — a portrait of youthful ambition and friendship that makes someone slightly older both grateful to not be that young anymore and just a little envious of those who are.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grateful
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Chesney stays grounded, grateful and faithful, in pursuit of the simple joys in life, living largely by the mantra of his memoir, .
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
But the actor remains grateful.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
The result is a comedy that’s both precise and unhinged, absurdly funny yet emotionally true — a portrait of youthful ambition and friendship that makes someone slightly older both grateful to not be that young anymore and just a little envious of those who are.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grateful
Cite this Entry
“Grateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grateful. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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