Elation is intense happiness and excitement that lifts your spirits so high you feel like you might float. It's that soaring, almost breathless feeling when something wonderful happens that you've been hoping for or working toward.

You might feel elation when you find out you made the basketball team after weeks of practice, or when you ace a test you studied hard for, or when you unexpectedly win a contest you'd entered. Scientists have experienced elation after years of failed experiments finally lead to a breakthrough. Athletes feel elation when they cross the finish line and realize they've set a new personal record.

Elation perfectly captures how joy can feel like it is lifting you off the ground. It's that moment when your face breaks into an enormous smile you can't control, when you want to jump up and down or shout or hug everyone around you.

Elation is different from contentment, which is calmer and more peaceful. Elation has energy and excitement in it. It's the emotional opposite of despair or devastation. When you feel elated, the world seems brighter, and anything feels possible.