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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

Explanation

Someone who's cheerful is spirited and happy. Your sister might be so cheerful that you hear her whistling joyfully first thing in the morning. If you're full of good humor and optimism, your friends probably describe you as cheerful. A cheerful bus driver, restaurant server, or calculus teacher can brighten your whole day. Cheerful means "full of cheer," and cheer, which came to mean "good mood or spirit," started out in the 13th century meaning "the face," from the Late Latin cara, "face," and its Greek root, kara, "head."

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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.

“Let Me Roll It” had a funky swagger, while “Getting Better” chugged with cheerful insistence; “I’ve Just Seen a Face” showed off the group’s crisp harmonies and “Lady Madonna” its tight rhythmic interplay.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2026

While SK Hynix’s spending is a plus for its suppliers, it might not be so cheerful for rival Micron.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

And it turns out that there was something deeper going on—something that none of the cheerful messages around breastfeeding warned me about.

From Slate • Mar. 15, 2026

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 • Feb. 22, 2026

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

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

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.