How to Use congratulatory in a Sentence

congratulatory

adjective
  • Lots of noise, big splashes, a few congratulatory whoops and hollers.
    — Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
  • The brothers talked about the congratulatory messages that have poured in since the news broke.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Watch the video and check out some of the other congratulatory tweets below.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 Feb. 2023
  • The polite way to handle it would be to send the young man a congratulatory card, wishing him well.
    — Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 24 May 2024
  • The car has been patient — and seems ready to greet its next owner with a congratulatory handshake.
    — Jesus R. Garcia, Houston Chronicle, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Unlike soccer or hockey, any congratulatory cheers are saved for the end of the game.
    — Scott Talley, Detroit Free Press, 16 June 2024
  • Many fans took to the comments section of the post with congratulatory messages straight away.
    — William Lambers, Newsweek, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Right now, Lin is busy fielding congratulatory calls, texts and emails.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 1 Mar. 2024
  • The handshakes, back slaps and congratulatory text messages are over.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2024
  • The president put the men’s team in another mess with his congratulatory, post-game phone call.
    — Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 28 Feb. 2026
  • Last year, the couple shared a similar congratulatory kiss at the polo match and walked with their arms linked around each other’s backs.
    — Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 7 July 2023
  • Fireworks go off from behind the stage and congratulatory music plays.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 July 2026
  • On cue, the three racers lunged for their congratulatory champagne, shook the bottles and doused each other in bubbly.
    — William Liang, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
  • Pope Francis sent a congratulatory message the same day that didn’t mention any of those issues.
    — Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 13 Nov. 2022
  • The Super Bowl is a congratulatory moment at the end of a long season.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 28 Apr. 2023
  • The post was filled with congratulatory comments, and some social media users wondered about the status of the giant fish.
    — Christopher Brito, CBS News, 29 May 2024
  • So, yes, the jersey orders are now in place, but first there was Monday night’s congratulatory call from her brother.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026
  • So, Quick returned and Bobrovsky was the first to embrace him and share a few congratulatory words.
    — CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Woods and McIlroy are close, so this congratulatory message does not come as a surprise.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
  • There are no congratulatory prizes for an audience who have been paying attention enough to follow along.
    — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
  • Kai, who shares a common love for the game of golf with her grandfather, shared a congratulatory X post about her grandfather.
    — Scott Thompson, Fox News, 7 Nov. 2024
  • Amid a flurry of congratulatory text messages that morning, Foltz homed in on an anomaly in the drone’s data stream.
    — Porter Fox, New York Times, 9 May 2023
  • Still, as the stand-ins walked onstage to accept the fake Oscar, Stone held her arms open wide and gave each a big congratulatory hug.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2025
  • Connor Murphy offered the goalie a congratulatory tap on the chest.
    — Mark Lazerus, The Athletic, 2 Dec. 2024
  • And, at the end of the clip, Hudson shows Roy receiving some congratulatory pets.
    — Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 15 Feb. 2024
  • The men’s team received a direct congratulatory call.
    — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The men’s team received a direct congratulatory call.
    — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Friends and mentors are sending you congratulatory texts.
    — Hope Horner, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • In the caption for her post, many of her family members chimed in, sharing their congratulatory messages.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
  • The model, who was married to Brady for 13 years, chimed in with her congratulatory message.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'congratulatory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: