paradise

¹ American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

1. heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.

2. an intermediate place for the departed souls of the righteous awaiting resurrection.

3. (often initial capital letter) Eden.

4. a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness.

5. a state of supreme happiness; bliss.

6. Architecture.

   1. parvis.

   2. an enclosure beside a church, as an atrium or cloister.

7. Italian Paradiso.  (initial capital letter, italics) the third and concluding part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting heaven, through which he is guided by Beatrice.

---

Paradise ² American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

1. a town in N California.

---

paradise British  

/ ˈpærəˌdaɪs /

noun

1. heaven as the ultimate abode or state of the righteous

2. Islam the sensual garden of delights that the Koran promises the faithful after death

3. Also called: limbo.  (according to some theologians) the intermediate abode or state of the just prior to the Resurrection of Jesus, as in Luke 23:43

4. the place or state of happiness enjoyed by Adam before the first sin; the Garden of Eden

5. any place or condition that fulfils all one's desires or aspirations

6. a park in which foreign animals are kept

---

paradise Cultural  

1. A place or state of pure happiness. Christians (see also Christian) have identified paradise both with the Garden of Eden and with heaven.

---

paradise Idioms  

1. see fool's paradise.

---

Etymology

Origin of paradise

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English paradīs, from Late Latin paradīsus, from Greek parádeisos “park, pleasure-grounds,” from Old Iranian; compare Avestan pairi-daēza “enclosure”; akin to Greek perí peri- ( def. ), teîkhos “mound, wall”

Example Sentences

“There was a privet hedge, a lonely juniper, a hibiscus, a large bird of paradise and a camellia bush,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

But if the shutdown does not resolve soon, the fallout from this weekend may feel like paradise in comparison to what’s to come.

From Slate • Mar. 24, 2026

To Scotland, it would be rugby paradise, the promised land they've been desperate to reach.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

TELLURIDE, Colo.—On a snowy March evening last year, a local official stepped to the microphone to declare that this winter ski paradise was in crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

It was the middle waiting area between whatever hellish situation people had come from and whatever free paradise they imagined on the other side.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• bliss
• heaven
• utopia
• wonderland