Cheer

//t͡ʃɪə̯// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cheerful attitude; happiness; a good, happy, or positive mood. uncountable

    "I have not that alacrity of spirit, / Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have."

  2. 2
    Cheerleading, especially when practiced as a competitive sport. Canada, US, uncountable

    "Alex participated in cheer all four years of college."

  3. 3
    the quality of being cheerful and dispelling gloom wordnet
  4. 4
    That which promotes good spirits or cheerfulness, especially food and entertainment prepared for a festive occasion. uncountable

    "a table loaded with good cheer"

  5. 5
    a cry or shout of approval wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A cry expressing joy, approval or support, such as "hurrah". countable

    "Three cheers for the birthday boy!"

  2. 7
    A chant made in support of a team at a sports event. countable
  3. 8
    One's facial expression or countenance. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "And soo on the morne they were alle accorded that they shold departe eueryche from other / And on the morne they departed with wepynge chere / and euery knyȝt took the way that hym lyked best"

  4. 9
    One's attitude, mood. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "And anon he talked with them, and sayde unto them: be of good chere, it is I, be not afrayed."

Verb
  1. 1
    To gladden; to make cheerful; often with up. transitive

    "We were cheered by the offer of a cup of tea."

  2. 2
    show approval or good wishes by shouting wordnet
  3. 3
    To infuse life, courage, animation, or hope, into; to inspirit; to solace or comfort. transitive

    "The proud he tam'd, the penitent he cheer'd."

  4. 4
    spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts wordnet
  5. 5
    To encourage to do something. obsolete, transitive

    "Let’s cheere our ſouldiers to incounter him, […] And burne him in the fury of that flame, That none can quench but blood and Empery."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    become cheerful wordnet
  2. 7
    To applaud or encourage with cheers or shouts. ambitransitive

    "The crowd cheered in support of the athletes."

  3. 8
    cause (somebody) to feel happier or more cheerful wordnet
  4. 9
    To feel or express enthusiasm for (something). figuratively, transitive

    "The finance sector will cheer this decision."

  5. 10
    give encouragement to wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acclamationbarrackcheer upcheerfulnesshearteninspire

Example

More examples

"We tried to cheer him up by taking him out."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English chere, from Anglo-Norman chere, from Old French chiere (“head, face; appearance; reception, hospitality; meal, dinner, food”) (Modern French chère), from Late Latin cara (“head”).

Etymology 2

Clipping of cheerleading.

Related phrases

Bronx cheerChristmas cheercheer oncheer pheasantcheer shipcheer squadcheer to the echocheer upcheer-offcup that cheersgood cheerthree cheers

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.