Formal synonyms of 'THANK YOU'

Below are the formal and polite equivalents (synonyms) of 'thank you' which you can use in your business or professional pieces of writing.

Although you can use 'thank you' in formal emails (e.g. 'thank you for your understanding'), for me it sound a little too informal. So I would recommend you use the below synonyms if you want to make yourself sound more professional.

Two of the below synonyms should only be used for specific situations. So, make sure that you read the description below each synonym before using them in your own writing.

Would like to express our gratitude

This is a more formal way to say 'thank you'. Only use this to thank people for things which took time for them to do, were difficult to do or saying 'thank you' when apologising. So don't use it when people have done something for you which was quick and easy for them to do (e.g. send a report to you), because it sounds excessive/too much.

Be very grateful

If you use 'grateful' when thanking somebody, it essential that you use 'very' or 'extremely' in front of it. If you don't, it sounds like the thing that the person/people did for you wasn't that important.

Would like to thank you

By simply adding 'would like to' in front of 'thank you' makes it sound more formal.

Be indebted

This is very formal and is used for the same situations as you would use 'would like to express our gratitude'. But unlike 'would like to express our gratitude', this phrase always has to be followed by 'to' and then 'you' (or the name of the person/people/organisation) you are thanking.

Go back to vocabulary list page