To get great pleasure or enjoyment from something, often showing it openly.
To really love something and enjoy it very much, often in a way that others can see.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To take great, often enthusiastic pleasure in an activity or situation.
"She delights in solving complex mathematical puzzles."
He delights in provoking people.
— Christopher Hitchens, interviewed in The Atlantic (2011)
To find particular enjoyment in something that others might consider unusual or provocative.
"The satirist delighted in exposing the hypocrisies of the powerful."
He delights in mischief and enjoys every minute of it.
— Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers (1836)
More common in written and formal English than in casual speech. Can carry a slightly mischievous or wry connotation when describing pleasure in others' misfortune or in provocative behaviour.
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