happy
- delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: to be happy to see a person.
- characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy: a happy mood; a happy frame of mind.
- favored by fortune; fortunate or lucky: a happy, fruitful land.See Synonym Study at fortunate.
- apt or felicitous, as actions, utterances, or ideas.
- obsessed by or quick to use the item indicated (usually used in combination): a trigger-happy gangster. Everybody is gadget-happy these days.
Origin of happy
Synonyms
See more synonyms for happy on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for happier
Contemporary Examples
He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to federal prison, creating a happy (or happier) ending in a domestic abuse story.
Happier news is that the other great icon of modern Britishness, Kate's hair, at least held up today.
The answer keeps coming back the same: Childless couples have happier marriages, on average.
If Putin preferred Tolstoy over Dostoevsky, what a happier, more peaceful place Ukraine would be right now.
Hold your breast close to mine And embrace me because it's cold, and I will be happier.
Historical Examples
The tune was familiar to her in happier days, and she listened to it with tears.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
I sometimes fancy that the old woman is the happier of the two.
Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
And when the news came that he was getting better, his father did not seem the least happier!
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
Christine saw his approval, and was happier than she had been for weeks.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
Since then—curious as it will no doubt sound—I have been happier.
De ProfundisOscar Wilde
happy
- feeling, showing, or expressing joy; pleased
- willingI'd be happy to show you around
- causing joy or gladness
- fortunate; luckythe happy position of not having to work
- aptly expressed; appropriatea happy turn of phrase
- (postpositive) informal slightly intoxicated
- (in combination)happy birthday; happy Christmas
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for happier
happy
adj.
late 14c., "lucky, favored by fortune, prosperous;" of events, "turning out well," from hap (n.) "chance, fortune" + -y (2). Sense of "very glad" first recorded late 14c. Ousted Old English eadig (from ead "wealth, riches") and gesælig, which has become silly. Meaning "greatly pleased and content" is from 1520s. Old English bliðe "happy" survives as blithe. From Greek to Irish, a great majority of the European words for "happy" at first meant "lucky." An exception is Welsh, where the word used first meant "wise."
Used in World War II and after as a suffix (e.g. bomb-happy, flak-happy) expressing "dazed or frazzled from stress." Happy medium is from 1778. Happy ending in the literary sense recorded from 1756. Happy as a clam (1630s) was originally happy as a clam in the mud at high tide, when it can't be dug up and eaten. Happy hunting ground, the reputed Indian paradise, is attested from 1840, American English. Related: Happier; happiest.
Idioms and Phrases with happier
happy
In addition to the idioms beginning with happy
- happy as the day is long
- happy camper
- happy hour
- happy hunting ground
- happy medium
also see:
- many happy returns
- trigger happy