cheery
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cheery
Explanation
Something that's cheery makes you feel happy. A cheery summer day is sunny and bright. It's always fun to spend time with a cheery friend, one who is positive and happy, or to participate in some cheery activity, like watching a funny movie or having a picnic. Cheery things do exactly what they sound like — they cheer you up. You can also use cheerful to mean the same thing, and both words are rooted in cheer, from the Anglo-French chere, "the face," with its Greek root kara, "head."
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.
See Examples For:
On that cheery end-of-week note, let’s pivot to my colleagues’ suggestions about how to get your weekend off to a happier start:
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026
On the other side of the Atlantic, there's Viv Truran, an equally cheeky and cheery 82-year-old from Cardiff.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
A cheery disposition didn’t keep Friedman from seeing that a “tyranny of the status quo”—the title of one of the books he wrote with his wife, Rose—often blocked the adoption of good policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Even the brief imitation of Lennon’s “losing control” scream is laser-precise, meant to boost the song’s momentum and carry it through a cheery and lazy surf solo.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Mmmph-mmmph,” he said to Penelope, in a tone that sounded much like a cheery “Hello.”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
The band later had hits with much cheerier material, including "Friday I'm in Love".
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
Some Americans do have a cheerier outlook now.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
But while JD struggled, its High Street neighbour Next enjoyed cheerier Christmas sales and raised its profit prediction to £960m.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2024
Taken together they're the closest any of us may come to knowing what it's like to pass through a black hole and emerge into a cheerier existence.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2023
So for several years the feud went on, and those who had known Ann in her cheerier days forgot that knowledge and spoke of her with open aversion as "dat awful ol' Mis' Pease."
From The heart of happy hollow A collection of stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Their festive rush through the streets will make you fall in love with New York's cheeriest seasonal spots while longing for the moment when strangers Dash and Lily finally collide.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2024
During a 2005 interview with Mr. Knight on MSNBC, Mr. Carlson criticized him for espousing “the sickest” of beliefs but then added, “You are one of the cheeriest guests we’ve ever had.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
Defence stocks rose, rarely the cheeriest sign from a human perspective.
From Reuters ● Sep. 21, 2022
Not the cheeriest sentiment, perhaps, but — just as with the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossoms — periodical cicadas do lend themselves to verse.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 8, 2021
Obiora’s letters are the cheeriest and the most irregular.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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