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.
Called Queen by her neighbors, Judit struggles to support her family and find some semblance of happiness in Bäck, a rural Swedish village.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Tencent Video described PetTV as a "24-hour happiness hub specially designed for your furry kids" in a post on social media app WeChat introducing the service last weekend.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
Who doesn’t yearn to clean up their mistakes and find some semblance of happiness, even when contentment seems so far out of reach?
From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026
"I was sure I'd find a very strong association between happiness and having fun, but instead I discovered that Finnish children associate happiness with feeling safe, and unhappiness with feeling unsafe."
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
Rejecting traditional religion’s emphasis on sin and punishment, Modern Spiritualism was rooted in personal happiness on earth and in the heaven of Summerland, as well as a desire for world harmony.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
