Link Centre Dictionary

happy

UK/ˈhapɪj/ US/ˈhæpi/ very common informal

adjective

1.

enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure or good fortune

  • “a happy smile”
  • “spent many happy days on the beach”
  • “a happy marriage”
Antonyms
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2.

experiencing pleasure or joy

  • “happy you are here”
  • “pleased with the good news”
Synonyms
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3.

marked by good fortune

  • “a felicitous life”
  • “a happy outcome”
Synonyms
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4.

satisfied; enjoying well-being and contentment

  • “felt content with her lot”
  • “quite happy to let things go on as they are”
Similar
5.
6.

well expressed and to the point

  • “a happy turn of phrase”
  • “a few well-chosen words”
  • “a felicitous comment”
Synonyms
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Origin

From Middle English happy (“fortunate, happy”), perhaps an alteration of Middle English happyn, happen (“fortunate, happy”), possibly related to or from Old Norse heppinn (“fortunate, happy”); and potentially assimilated to be equivalent to hap (“chance, luck, fortune”) + -y.

Phrases

  • as happy as a pig in mud
  • belated happy birthday
  • fat and happy
  • First Happy Time
  • get happy
  • happy 4th
  • happy as a box of birds
  • happy as a clam

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.