merry
adjective
full of cheerfulness or gaiety; joyous in disposition or spirit.
merry
1 American
[mer-ee]
/ ˈmɛr i /
adjective
merrier,
merriest
-
full of cheerfulness or gaiety; joyous in disposition or spirit.
a merry little man.
- Synonyms:
- glad, cheery, frolicsome, blithesome, blithe, happy
- Antonyms:
- sad
-
laughingly happy; mirthful; festively joyous; hilarious.
a merry time at the party.
- Antonyms:
- solemn
-
Archaic. causing happiness; pleasant; delightful.
idioms
Merry
2
American
[mer-ee]
/ ˈmɛr i /
noun
merry
British
/ ˈmɛrɪ /
adjective
-
cheerful; jolly
-
very funny; hilarious
-
informal slightly drunk
-
archaic delightful
-
to revel; be festive
-
informal to disturb greatly; disrupt
Pronunciation
See Mary.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of merry
First recorded before 900; Middle English meri(e),myrie, murie, Old English myr(i)ge, mer(i)ge “pleasant, delightful”
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing merry
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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"The Moustache" and "Who We Really Are"
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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.
He joined the Royal Court Company and spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he performed in productions of “Julius Caesar,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “The Relapse.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026
Activists had placed a beam in the water early on December 25 to partially recreate the wave, according to German media reports, and hung a banner above the water that read "Merry Christmas".
From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025
It's a multilingual country and the greeting inside - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - is in French, German, Flemish and English.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
Appeared in the December 20, 2025, print edition as 'A Merry Memoir of Yuletide Anarchy'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
‘And you need not turn up your nose at the provender, Master Gimli,’ said Merry.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
