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

For those whose loved one is dying, the cheerful nature of the season can heighten their grief and loneliness.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

City Hall, which dates to the 16th century, toots out a cheerful jazz bugle call several times a day.

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A few days before Thanksgiving, members of the West Virginia National Guard filmed cheerful videos about what they would miss while deployed to the nation’s capital over the holidays.

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"He was a kind man, a good person, a friend. A good father, uncle son. He was a cheerful person. He loved his work and his fishing."

Read more on BBC

The company has been known as Pinkfong since 2022, a name inspired by a cheerful and curious fox that featured in one of its early cartoons.

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Related Words

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