Jump To:

• paradise
  paradise

  noun

  heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.
• Paradise
  Paradise

  noun

  a town in N California.

paradise

¹ American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

paradises plural

1. heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.

2. an intermediate place for the departed souls of the righteous awaiting resurrection.

3. (often initial capital letter) Eden.

4. a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness.

5. a state of supreme happiness; bliss.

6. Architecture.

   1. parvis.

   2. an enclosure beside a church, as an atrium or cloister.

7. Italian Paradiso.  (initial capital letter, italics) the third and concluding part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting heaven, through which he is guided by Beatrice.

---

Paradise ² American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

1. a town in N California.

---

paradise British  

/ ˈpærəˌdaɪs /

noun

1. heaven as the ultimate abode or state of the righteous

2. Islam the sensual garden of delights that the Koran promises the faithful after death

3. Also called: limbo.  (according to some theologians) the intermediate abode or state of the just prior to the Resurrection of Jesus, as in Luke 23:43

4. the place or state of happiness enjoyed by Adam before the first sin; the Garden of Eden

5. any place or condition that fulfils all one's desires or aspirations

6. a park in which foreign animals are kept

---

paradise Cultural  

1. A place or state of pure happiness. Christians (see also Christian) have identified paradise both with the Garden of Eden and with heaven.

---

paradise Idioms  

1. see fool's paradise.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paradises
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paradise

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English paradīs, from Late Latin paradīsus, from Greek parádeisos “park, pleasure-grounds,” from Old Iranian; compare Avestan pairi-daēza “enclosure”; akin to Greek perí peri- ( def. ), teîkhos “mound, wall”

Explanation

In some religions, paradise is considered the ultimate destination, but in general, it's any place that is ideal and free from worry. Eden, Shangri-la, or even the corner nail salon — each might represent paradise to someone. Paradise comes from the Greek paradeisos meaning "park, paradise, Garden of Eden." The Garden of Eden was a paradise free from all worries until Eve ate the apple that broke the dream. Often when you see advertisements for tourism in the Caribbean, a sense of paradise is evoked by the beautiful images and carefree descriptions.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paradise Paradise paradises

This seems like paradise compared to what the Ellisons and their kind envision.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

They have enlisted Hao—apparently a much-in-demand dating coach—to guide them to marital paradise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Every year, tens of thousands of birds glide over the rusting remains of one of the Mediterranean's largest saltworks, to rest in the rare paradise it left behind.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

There’s ample media coverage of older Americans who bask in apparent paradise somewhere far from home.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

Each soul then had to pay Fedu before being carried on to paradise in the godlands.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

The Great Bird Race, for Channel 4 in 1983, was followed by a number of programmes for the BBC including The Great Kenyan Bird Safari and Oddie in Paradise.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

An evacuation warning was temporarily issued for the residents living in the 133 homes at the Paradise Ranch Estates Mobile Home Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

The film moves beyond the climate crisis to the increase in climate refugees, which Fox underscores by starting with Americans, including victims of the Paradise blaze, before journeying around the globe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

In the Liverpool One retail area, some shoppers had been camping for two days outside the Paradise Street store.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

Paradise Vendors should prove to be a pleasant employer.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

“Sinkholes are paradises for many rare and endangered plant species. We are continuing to make new discoveries.”

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024

Wildfires and successive heat waves transformed their summer paradises into ghoulish hellscapes.

From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2023

County residents who’ve taken out their lawns and transformed their yards into fragrant, leafy, low-water paradises — often with a DIY approach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

“Of course, paradises don’t last,” the unapologetic and rare local conservative mused.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2022

Some scholars imagine ancient hunter-gatherer societies as peaceful paradises, and argue that war and violence began only with the Agricultural Revolution, when people started to accumulate private property.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• bliss
• heaven
• utopia
• wonderland