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:
Sugary cereals are generally placed on lower shelves in stores, the better for children to see the cheery packaging and cartoon mascots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Pop artist Peter Max, whose cheery psychedelic creations helped define the counterculture aesthetic in the 1960s, died on Monday, US media reported.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Despite the market’s fairly cheery mood, investors have plenty to worry about right now, Kramer said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
With its sunny elevator-music-scored opening of cheery park scenes and leafy residential neighborhoods, “Ice Cream Man” sets itself up, not unappealingly, like a Norman Rockwell painting asking to be vandalized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
I’d sit down, open my notebook, write the date at the top of the page, and look up to Miss Jiménez and her cheery “Buenos días, clase.”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
The band later had hits with much cheerier material, including "Friday I'm in Love".
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
His version of the hero is far cheerier and more optimistic that other iterations, particularly compared to Henry Cavill's portrayal of him which was grittier and darker.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
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
A brightly lit home is cheerier and welcoming.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2023
A cheerier association of this church is with Thomas Moore, the poet of Ireland, who was here married.
From Shakespeare's England by William Winter
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
Defence stocks rose, rarely the cheeriest sign from a human perspective.
From Reuters ● Sep. 21, 2022
Then the narrative became “It’s the cheeriest show you’ll ever see!”
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2021
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
I went up to the manager and said in my cheeriest voice, “Good afternoon. I am from the People’s Center summer camp, and I buy dinner groceries at this store.”
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
