happiness
Americannoun
-
the quality or state of being happy.
- Synonyms:
- satisfaction, enjoyment, delight, contentedness, bliss, exhilaration, joy, pleasure
- Antonyms:
- misery
-
good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.
- Synonyms:
- delight, contentedness, bliss, exhilaration, joy, pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment
Related Words
Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.
Other Word Forms
- overhappiness noun
Etymology
Origin of happiness
Compare meaning
How does happiness compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
He covers the pursuit of happiness—how people feel about money and the economy, how they're defining a good life, and the obstacles and avenues to wealth and prosperity in America.
She tickled Chica’s wrinkly chin till her wise turtle eyes blinked with happiness.
From Literature
"He went to seek happiness for his children and his family, and now his body has returned in a coffin. It's unbearable," his son said.
From Barron's
His IT job limits his free time, but he finds happiness in the quiet of his own home.
The voracious reader said that the best books, those that brought him happiness, were not the ones that ease our way in this strange and difficult world.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
