gleeful

American  

[glee-fuhl] / ˈgli fəl /

adjective

1. full of exultant joy; merry; delighted.

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gleeful British  

/ ˈɡliːfʊl /

adjective

1. full of glee; merry

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Other Word Forms

• gleefully adverb
• gleefulness noun
• ungleeful adjective

Etymology

Origin of gleeful

First recorded in 1580–90; glee ¹ + -ful

Example Sentences

Surely, writing one’s name amid the clouds is a gleeful exploitation of the buildings’ arrested progress, laying claim to one of the few spaces where nature and the city reliably meet.

From Los Angeles Times

Marshall brokered a cease-fire between a dismayed Chiang and gleeful Communists in January 1946: It was meant to last for two weeks but “became a four-month truce that changed the course of the civil war.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The story is goofy and the trashing of Philly is gleeful.

From The Wall Street Journal

On social media, the schadenfreude has verged on gleeful, with the public picking up on even the smallest references to confirm their priors and their thirst for justice is palpable.

From The Wall Street Journal

Last year, he brought his gleeful sense of mischief to the U.K. competition series “Taskmaster.”

From Los Angeles Times