cheerful

[cheer-fuhl]

adjective

1. full of cheer; in good spirits.

   a cheerful person.

   Synonyms: jolly, sunny, buoyant, joyous, joyful, happy, blithe, gay, cheery
   Antonyms: miserable

2. promoting or inducing cheer; pleasant; bright.

   cheerful surroundings.

3. characterized by or expressive of good spirits or cheerfulness.

   cheerful songs.

4. hearty or ungrudging.

   cheerful giving.

   Synonyms: generous
   Antonyms: grudging

cheerful

/ ˈtʃɪəfʊl /

adjective

1. having a happy disposition; in good spirits

2. pleasantly bright; gladdening

   a cheerful room

3. hearty; ungrudging; enthusiastic

   cheerful help

Other Word Forms

• cheerfully adverb
• cheerfulness noun
• quasi-cheerful adjective
• quasi-cheerfully adverb
• uncheerful adjective
• uncheerfully adverb
• uncheerfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheerful¹

First recorded in 1400–50, cheerful is from the late Middle English word cherfull. See cheer, -ful

Example Sentences

The preschoolers were fascinated, looking at their classroom through the lens of an iPad camera, watching animated images pop up as a cheerful voice told them: Feed apples to a pig behind a haystack.

From Los Angeles Times

Away from the cameras he is loose and cheerful, but once the red light blinks, the mood changes.

From BBC

By contrast, non-vintage still wine - that made by blending two or more years - is seen as very downmarket, something cheap and not cheerful.

From BBC

Reading aloud, Mr Hopkins says: "He's cheerful and industrious, with a mischievous sense of humour and fondness for practical jokes."

From BBC

I walked briskly into the office, but the cheerful dentist I worked for took one look at my face with my eyes puffy from crying and asked, “What happened to you?”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• animated 
• bright 
• buoyant 
• cheery 
• chipper 
• chirpy 
• effervescent 
• enthusiastic 
• good-natured 
• happy 
• jaunty 
• jolly 
• joyful 
• lighthearted 
• lively 
• merry 
• optimistic 
• peppy 
• perky 
• pleasant