full of cheerfulness or gaiety; joyous in disposition or spirit.
a merry little man.
laughingly happy; mirthful; festively joyous; hilarious.
a merry time at the party.
Archaic. causing happiness; pleasant; delightful.
cheerful; jolly
very funny; hilarious
informal slightly drunk
archaic delightful
to revel; be festive
informal to disturb greatly; disrupt
See Mary.
First recorded before 900; Middle English meri(e),myrie, murie, Old English myr(i)ge, mer(i)ge “pleasant, delightful”
To be merry is to be happy, especially in a fun, festive way. Parties and celebrations are merry, and so are the fun people who attend them. This old fashioned word for “happy” is popular in December when people say, “Merry Christmas.” To be merry is to be happy, jaunty, and ready to frolic. A group of people laughing as they walk down the street is a merry gang. Anything merry is festive, often involving games, celebrations, and parties. A merry-go-round makes kids happy as it spins them around. Smiling and laughing are signs of being merry. If you go along your merry way, you walk away happily, maybe even skipping.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Corrigan told jurors he was "merry" but "not drunk".
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
And if you had that kind of a mother — or better, if you are that kind of a mother — the merry derangement O’Hara brought to her performances was soul-satisfying.
From Salon • Feb. 4, 2026
Winter wonderlands are absent from these images, though many of the locales Mr. Friedlander captures are merry and bright.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
Nonetheless if the market doesn’t make strides over the remainder of the holiday season, investors won’t be feeling very merry.
From Barron's • Dec. 18, 2025
In contrast, Fernlight Forest, across the road, was bursting with life, merry with birdsong and the crunch of paws in the underbrush.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
