English Dictionary
Definition of “happy”
happy (ˈhæpɪ
)
Definitions
adjective
- feeling, showing, or expressing joy; pleased
- willing ⇒
I'd be happy to show you around
- causing joy or gladness
- fortunate; lucky ⇒
the happy position of not having to work
- aptly expressed; appropriate ⇒
a happy turn of phrase
- (postpositive) informal slightly intoxicated
exclamation
- ((in combination) ⇒
happy birthday
happy Christmas
Alternative Forms
ˈhappily adverb ˈhappiness noun Word Origin
C14: see hapC14: see 1, , -yC14: see , 1
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
pleased,
delighted,
content,
contented,
thrilled,
glad,
blessed,
blest,
sunny,
cheerful,
jolly,
merry,
ecstatic,
gratified,
jubilant,
joyous,
joyful,
elated,
over the moon,
overjoyed,
blissful,
rapt,
blithe,
on cloud nine,
cock-a-hoop,
walking on air floating on air
stoked,
=
fortunate,
lucky,
timely,
appropriate,
convenient,
favourable,
auspicious,
propitious,
apt,
befitting,
advantageous,
well-timed,
opportune,
felicitous,
seasonable,
-happy
Definitions
combining form in adjective
- denoting excessive enthusiasm for or devotion to ⇒
gun-happy
Quotations
"Happy the man, and happy he aloneHe who can call today his own;He who, secure within, can say,Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today"
John Dryden"The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself"
Publilius Syrus"Call no man happy till he dies, he is at best but fortunate"
Solon"Happy men are grave. They carry their happiness cautiously, as they would a glass filled to the brim which the slightest movement could cause to spill over, or break"
Jules Barbey D'Aurevilly"No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy"
Herbert Spencer"We are never happy: we can only remember that we were so once"
Alexander Smith
Translations
- British English:
happy
Someone who is happy has feelings of joy or contentment.She was a confident, happy child.ˈhæpɪ ADJECTIVE She was a confident, happy child.
- Spanish:
feliz
adj
- French:
heureux
adj heureuse
- German:
glücklich
adj
- Chinese: 快乐的 adj
- Arabic: سَعِيد adj
- Portuguese: feliz adj
- Russian: счастливый adj счастливая
- Croatian: sretan adj sretna
- Czech: šťastný adj
- Danish: glad adj
- Dutch: gelukkig adj
- Finnish: onnellinen adj
- Greek: ευτυχισμένος adj ευτυχισμένη
- Italian: felice adj
- Japanese: 幸福な no_posp
- Korean: 행복한 adj
- Norwegian: glad adj
- Polish: szczęśliwy adj szczęśliwa
- Brazilian Portuguese: feliz adj
- European Spanish:
feliz
adj
- Swedish: lycklig adj lyckligt
- Thai: เป็นสุข adj
- Turkish: mutlu adj
- Vietnamese: hạnh phúc adj
Usage examples
They were a gentle, happy people who seemed to want nothing more than the same happiness for all living things.
Jennifer Fallon, TREASON KEEP (2001)Perhaps they felt guilty about their earlier part in the saga and were happy to draw a line under it.
Country Life (2004)They are happy here which is the important thing," Donoghue adds.
Irish Times (2002)Perhaps a Labour leader does not want to contemplate the Thatcherite example - although Tony Blair once seemed happy to.
Glasgow Herald (2001)He would not simply sort out their finances but guide them in all their decisions so they could live more orderly, happy lives.
Dorothy Rowe, BEYOND FEAR (2002)
