Cheer vs. Root: Difference and Comparison
Edited by Muazma Batool — By Muneeza Rehman — Published on February 12, 2024
Cheer refers to shouting or showing enthusiasm in support, while root means to express support or hope for a team or individual's success.
Difference Between Cheer and Root
Cheer and root, while both express forms of support, have distinct connotations in the English language. Cheer often pertains to vocal or physical displays of enthusiasm, typically characterized by clapping, shouting, or any other outward manifestation of support or joy. Root, on the other hand, implies a deeper, more internal form of support, where one hopes or wishes for someone's success, often in a competitive setting.
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
At sporting events, fans often cheer for their teams, raising their voices and celebrating whenever their team scores or achieves a significant play. They wear team colors, wave flags, and engage in synchronized chants to vocalize their support. Rooting for a team, in contrast, might not always involve vocal expressions. Instead, it's about hoping earnestly for the team's victory, even if that hope isn't loudly expressed.
Muazma Batool
Feb 12, 2024
Cheer has applications beyond sports. One can cheer up a friend going through a hard time or cheer at the news of someone's success. This word encompasses both the act of showing joy and the act of bringing joy. Root, when not used in the context of support, has different meanings, like referring to the underground part of a plant or searching for something by turning things over.
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
In performing arts, audiences cheer for their favorite performers, showing appreciation and admiration through applause and shouts. To root for a performer, however, is to silently wish them success in their endeavors, perhaps because of a personal connection or admiration for their talent. Both cheer and root, in their unique ways, highlight the positive emotions and support humans show toward others.
Elijah
Feb 12, 2024
Cheer vs. Root Comparison Chart
Basic Definition
A vocal or physical display of enthusiasm.
To express deep support or hope for success.
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
Context of Usage
Outward expressions like shouting or clapping.
More internal, earnest hope or wish.
Muazma Batool
Feb 12, 2024
Example Sentences
"The crowd gave a loud cheer."
"I'm rooting for the underdog."
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
Cheer vs. Root Definitions
◉Cheer
To bring joy or happiness.
He tried to cheer her up after the disappointing news.
Olivia
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
A shout of approval, encouragement, or congratulation
a remark that drew cheers from the crowd.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The basic cause or source of something.
The root of the problem lies in miscommunication.
Muazma Batool
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
A short, rehearsed jingle or phrase, shouted in unison by a squad of cheerleaders.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The usually underground portion of a plant that lacks buds, leaves, or nodes and serves as support, draws minerals and water from the surrounding soil, and sometimes stores food.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
Any of various other underground plant parts, especially an underground stem such as a rhizome, corm, or tuber.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
Lightness of spirits or mood; gaiety or joy
a happy tune, full of cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The embedded part of an organ or structure such as a hair, tooth, or nerve, that serves as a base or support.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
Festive food and drink; refreshment
did not refrain from sampling their holiday cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The bottom or supporting part of something
We snipped the wires at the roots.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The essential part or element; the basic core
I finally got to the root of the problem.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To express praise or approval
Bloggers cheered when the favorable decision was announced.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
often roots The condition of being settled and of belonging to a particular place or society
Our roots in this town go back a long way.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
roots The state of having or establishing an indigenous relationship with or a personal affinity for a particular culture, society, or environment
music with unmistakable African roots.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To express praise or approval for; acclaim
cheered the results of the election.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The element that carries the main component of meaning in a word and provides the basis from which a word is derived by adding affixes or inflectional endings or by phonetic change.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
Such an element reconstructed for a protolanguage. Also called radical.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
(uncountable) A cheerful attitude; happiness; a good, happy, or positive mood.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
A number that when multiplied by itself an indicated number of times forms a product equal to a specified number. For example, a fourth root of 4 is √2. Also called nth root.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
That which promotes good spirits or cheerfulness, especially food and entertainment prepared for a festive occasion.
a table loaded with good cheer
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
A number that reduces a polynomial equation in one variable to an identity when it is substituted for the variable.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
(countable) A cry expressing joy, approval or support, such as "hurrah".
Three cheers for the birthday boy!
A cheer rose from the crowd.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
Cheerleading, especially when practiced as a competitive sport.
Alex participated in cheer all four years of college.
I'm going to wear my new cheer shoes at cheer today.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To become firmly established or settled
The idea of tolerance has rooted in our culture.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
(transitive) To gladden; to make cheerful; often with up.
We were cheered by the offer of a cup of tea.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
(transitive) To infuse life, courage, animation, or hope, into; to inspirit; to solace or comfort.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To establish or settle firmly
Our love of the ocean has rooted us here.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To be the source or origin of
"Much of [the team's] success was rooted in the bullpen" (Dan Shaughnessy).
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
(ambitransitive) To applaud or encourage with cheers or shouts.
The crowd cheered in support of the athletes.
The crowd cheered the athletes.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To dig or pull out by the roots. Often used with up or out
We rooted out the tree stumps with a tractor.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To feel or express enthusiasm for (something).
The finance sector will cheer this decision.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To remove or get rid of. Often used with out
"declared that waste and fraud will be vigorously rooted out of Government" (New York Times).
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To turn up by digging with the snout or nose
hogs that rooted up acorns.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
That which promotes good spirits or cheerfulness; provisions prepared for a feast; entertainment; as, a table loaded with good cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To cause to appear or be known. Used with out
an investigation that rooted out the source of the problem.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
Feeling; spirit; state of mind or heart.
Be of good cheer.
The parents . . . fled away with heavy cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
Gayety; mirth; cheerfulness; animation.
I have not that alacrity of spirit,Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To search or rummage for something
rooted around for a pencil in his cluttered office.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
A shout, hurrah, or acclamation, expressing joy enthusiasm, applause, favor, etc.
Welcome her, thundering cheer of the street.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To give audible encouragement or applause to a contestant or team; cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To give moral support to someone; hope for a favorable outcome for someone
We'll be rooting for you when you take the exam.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To infuse life, courage, animation, or hope, into; to inspirit; to solace or comfort.
The proud he tamed, the penitent he cheered.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.
This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To salute or applaud with cheers; to urge on by cheers; as, to cheer hounds in a chase.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To grow cheerful; to become gladsome or joyous; - usually with up.
At sight of thee my gloomy soul cheers up.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To utter a shout or shouts of applause, triumph, etc.
And even the ranks of TusculumCould scare forbear to cheer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(figurative) The primary source; origin.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
the quality of being cheerful and dispelling gloom;
flowers added a note of cheerfulness to the drab room
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(aviation) The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(engineering) The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.
The root diameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
show approval or good wishes by shouting;
everybody cheered the birthday boy
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
The cube root of 27 is 3.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
cause (somebody) to feel happier or more cheerful;
She tried to cheer up the disappointed child when he failed to win the spelling bee
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is often abbreviated to "root").
Multiply by root 2.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
urge on or encourage especially by shouts;
The crowd cheered the demonstrating strikers
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
A shout of encouragement or joy.
The team's touchdown drew a massive cheer from the fans.
Jonathan
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(linguistic morphology) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
An expression of approval or support.
She gave a cheer when she heard the good news.
Levi
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
To shout in encouragement or praise.
The audience cheered the band on during the encore.
Leo
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Cheer
A state of happiness or contentment.
His jokes brought a lot of cheer to the party.
Jonathan
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(computing) In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure; the person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.
I have to log in as root before I do that.
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
I installed the files in the root directory.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
The cuttings are starting to root.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.
We rooted some cuttings last summer.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To get root or privileged access on a computer system or mobile phone, often through bypassing some security mechanism.
We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.
I want to root my Android phone so I can remove the preinstalled crapware.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(ambitransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.
A pig roots the earth for truffles.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
rooting about in a junk-filled drawer
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(intransitive) Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. See root for.
I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
Hence, to seek for favor or advancement by low arts or groveling servility; to fawn servilely.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
In deep grounds the weeds root deeper.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To be firmly fixed; to be established.
If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misappehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; - usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish; - used chiefly in the participle; as, rooted trees or forests; rooted dislike.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; - with up, out, or away.
The Lord rooted them out of their land . . . and cast them into another land.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The underground portion of a plant, whether a true root or a tuber, a bulb or rootstock, as in the potato, the onion, or the sweet flag.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
That which resembles a root in position or function, esp. as a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like.
They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
A primitive form of speech; one of the earliest terms employed in language; a word from which other words are formed; a radix, or radical.
The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
The time which to reckon in making calculations.
When a root is of a birth yknowe [known].
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
That factor of a quantity which when multiplied into itself will produce that quantity; thus, 3 is a root of 9, because 3 multiplied into itself produces 9; 3 is the cube root of 27.
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed;
thematic vowels are part of the stem
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
the place where something begins, where it springs into being;
the Italian beginning of the Renaissance
Jupiter was the origin of the radiation
Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River
communism's Russian root
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
a number that when multiplied by itself some number of times equals a given number
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
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Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for;
We all rooted for the home team
I'm pulling for the underdog
Are you siding with the defender of the title?
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style;
He finally settled down
Muneeza Rehman
Sep 24, 2023
◉Root
To express or feel deep interest or support.
I always root for the home team during playoffs.
Levi
Sep 24, 2023
Cheer vs. Root Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a physical action associated with rooting?
Not necessarily, rooting is often about internal feelings of support.
Olivia
Feb 12, 2024
Is cheering always loud?
No, cheering can be quiet or silent expressions of joy or support.
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
Is it common to both cheer and root for someone?
Yes, many people vocally cheer while also deeply rooting for someone's success.
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
Is rooting more passive than cheering?
Generally, yes. Rooting is often a silent or internal form of support, while cheering is more outward.
Muazma Batool
Feb 12, 2024
Does "root" always refer to support in sports?
No, root can mean the underground part of a plant or searching for something.
Kaitlyn
Feb 12, 2024
Does every cheer indicate positivity?
Mostly, yes. However, there's a concept of a "jeer" which is a negative or mocking shout.
William
Feb 12, 2024
Can you cheer for multiple teams or people at once?
Yes, one can cheer for multiple entities, showing appreciation or support for each.
Henry
Feb 12, 2024
Can "cheer" be used as a verb and a noun?
Yes, you can cheer someone on (verb) or give a cheer (noun).
Muneeza Rehman
Feb 12, 2024
Can you root against someone?
Yes, to root against someone is to hope for their failure or defeat.
Levi
Feb 12, 2024
Is the act of cheering cultural?
Yes, the way and intensity with which people cheer can vary across cultures.
Levi
Feb 12, 2024
Content Creators
Written by
Muneeza RehmanAt Comparisons.wiki, Muneeza skillfully navigates the vast sea of information, ensuring clarity and accuracy as the lead content editor. With a keen eye for detail, she curates every comparison to enlighten and engage readers.
Edited by
Muazma BatoolAs a content editor, Muazma Batool is not just a grammar guru but a creative mastermind who breathes life into every word. With an eagle eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, she transforms bland text into engaging content that captivates audiences and drives results.
