Triumphant means filled with the joy of having won. Arms up, and everybody knows about it.
It describes people, returns and moments, so a triumphant homecoming and a triumphant grin are both standard. The word is public rather than private, since triumph is celebrated and quiet satisfaction is not. The noun triumph comes from the Roman ceremony granted to a victorious general, which is where the grandeur comes from. Triumphalism is a criticism, meaning gloating about a victory long after it is over.
1adjectivetriumphantShowing great joy at having won or succeeded.
“She came back triumphant with the last of the tickets.”
Triumphant carries the rejoicing inside it. Latin triumphō meant to exult and to celebrate a triumph at once, so the word names the noise quite as much as the victory.
Latin
triumphāns
English, today
triumphant
Built from
From Old French -, from Latin triumphāns, present participle of triumphō (“to triumph; to exult, rejoice”). by surface analysis, triumph + -ant.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA