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cheerful

American  
[cheer-fuhl] / ˈtʃɪər fəl /

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 British  
/ ˈtʃɪəfʊl /

adjective

  1. having a happy disposition; in good spirits

  2. pleasantly bright; gladdening

    a cheerful room

  3. hearty; ungrudging; enthusiastic

    cheerful help
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of cheerful

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

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.

Fellow lodgers at his New York City boardinghouse worried as the typically cheerful, young Fairbanks grew gloomy and distracted.

From Literature

Ida’s cheerful face fell, and her older sister looked at me with a suspicious frown.

From Literature

There would need to be a formal transition, and it sounds like even a very cheap and cheerful leadership contest would be beyond the party's current bank balance.

From BBC

“Katherine’s all right and everything, but she’s too . . . cheerful about all of this,” Chip said.

From Literature

Fred was an iguana, spiky as a dragon, with a cheerful snub nose.

From Literature

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.