Euphoria Meaning: That Rush of Pure Joy

Euphoria meaning and its three uses

A short euphoria definition is "an extreme feeling of happiness". The word is used in three main settings:

1. Everyday joy. A burst of delight after good news, a win, a reunion or a big achievement. This is the common sense.
2. Medicine and psychology. An unusually high mood that may come from drugs, alcohol, some illnesses or hard exercise. Here euphoria is a symptom or effect to note, not just a nice feeling.
3. Markets and economics. A phase when investors become so optimistic that prices rise far above what the facts support. Writers often warn that euphoria comes before a crash.

Euphoria in example sentences

• There was pure euphoria in the hostel when the results list went up and everyone had passed.
• The euphoria of moving into our first flat lasted until the first electricity bill.
• Some runners describe a brief euphoria near the end of a long race.
• Analysts cautioned that the euphoria around the new shares could fade quickly.
• She was euphoric after the hospital called to say the surgery had gone well.

From medical Latin to everyday joy

Euphoria goes back to Greek euphoria, built from eu, well, and pherein, to carry, so roughly the power of bearing things easily. It came into English through medical Latin. Doctors in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries used it for a patient's sense of comfort and good health, sometimes even while sick. The general sense of high spirits became common only in the late nineteenth century. The adjective euphoric appears around the same time, first in writing about the effects of drugs.

Euphoria, elation, bliss and ecstasy

The opposite end includes despair and melancholy. In medicine, dysphoria names a state of unease or dissatisfaction, the reverse of euphoria in word structure too.

How to use euphoria in a sentence

Euphoria is mostly uncountable: a feeling of euphoria, a wave of euphoria, a moment of euphoria. Typical verbs and phrases include filled with euphoria, the euphoria wore off, post-victory euphoria and initial euphoria. Writers often pair it with a turn, as in the initial euphoria gave way to worry, because the word hints that such a high does not last. Use euphoric for people and moods: a euphoric crowd, a euphoric mood.

When euphoria is a warning sign

In health settings, euphoria is not always welcome. Some medicines and recreational drugs cause it, which is one reason they can be habit forming. An unusually high, restless mood that lasts for days, with little sleep and risky choices, can be a sign of a mood condition such as mania. Head injuries and some neurological illnesses can also change mood in this way. Our people and feelings section covers more mood words, and you may also like the page on nostalgia.