happiness

[hap-ee-nis]

noun

1. the quality or state of being happy.

   Synonyms: satisfaction, enjoyment, delight, contentedness, bliss, exhilaration, joy, pleasure
   Antonyms: misery

2. good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

   Synonyms: delight, contentedness, bliss, exhilaration, joy, pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment

Other Word Forms

• overhappiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of happiness¹

First recorded in 1520–30; happy + -ness

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

And with their home reduced to a haunted ruin, the sisters find a kind of safety, and happiness, at last.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Little Clouds Nursery said the "safety, wellbeing and happiness of children" was its top priority and the staff member involved was no longer employed.

Read more on BBC

"I feel a deep sense of happiness, pride and honour within me," she said as she prepared to compete in the Spanish city.

Read more on BBC

Ms. Low tacitly admits that the prevailing culture has been overselling the rewards of work—and playing down the importance of relationships, i.e., marriage and children, as a cornerstone of a woman’s happiness.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A man who escaped the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher before a reported massacre by paramilitary troops says he has lost all hope and happiness.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• bliss 
• contentment 
• delight 
• elation 
• enjoyment 
• euphoria 
• exhilaration 
• glee 
• joy 
• jubilation 
• laughter 
• optimism 
• peace of mind www.thesaurus.com
• pleasure 
• prosperity 
• well-being