Felicitate

A famous scientist has just won a Nobel Prize. At the ceremony, the president of the academy stands up and gives a short, elegant speech. He praises the scientist’s years of hard work, mentions the importance of the discovery, and ends with warm congratulations. The hall applauds, and the scientist feels honoured. What does the president do to the scientist? He felicitates him (congratulates him formally).

Felicitate means to congratulate someone formally and warmly, often in a public ceremony. Delight, by contrast, means to give someone simple, personal joy or pleasure, without any formal ceremony. So, felicitate focuses on formal, public praise and recognition. Delight focuses on private, everyday happiness. In other words, the president felicitates a Nobel laureate; a child delights his mother with a handmade card.