gleeful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gleeful
Explanation
If you're gleeful, you're delighted or joyful. The sound of children's gleeful laughter is one sign of a successful birthday party. When you feel gleeful, you're more than happy: you're exuberant and joyous. A friend's gleeful face tells you she's gotten great news or heard a hilarious joke, and gleeful kids will sometimes even scream with joy. In the 17th century, the alternate adjective gleesome competed with gleeful — both come from an Old English root, gliu, which means "mirth, play, sport," and also "music" and "mockery."
Vocabulary lists containing gleeful
Emotions on Display
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List 5
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Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As a director, Wilde lands this jump with gleeful ease, making it clear what she meant when she recently described the dreadful reaction to her sophomore film, “Don’t Worry Darling,” as “liberating.”
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Ellis Park, filled to close to its 62,000 capacity after a late lowering of ticket prices, was gleeful.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
And despite our civilization’s rich tradition of celebrating public humiliation, and the country’s substantial population of New England Patriots haters, it is not gleeful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
They’re getting louder, the echoes from 2002, when Lakers flags flapped above car doors all over L.A., and for a third consecutive year, residents paraded, gleeful and triumphant, with another championship to celebrate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
Sarah smiled, her eyes so gleeful they sparkled like water in sunlight.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
