joy

¹

[joi]

noun

1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.

   She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.

   Synonyms: rapture
   Antonyms: grief, sorrow, unhappiness, misery

2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated.

   Her prose style is a pure joy.

3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4. a state of happiness or felicity.

   Synonyms: bliss

verb (used without object)

1. to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.

verb (used with object)

1. Obsolete.,  to gladden.

Joy

²

Or Joye

[joi]

noun

1. a female given name.

joy

/ dʒɔɪ /

noun

1. a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment

2. something causing such a feeling; a source of happiness

3. an outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing

4. informal,  success; satisfaction

   I went to the bank for a loan, but got no joy

verb

1. (intr) to feel joy

2. obsolete,  (tr) to make joyful; gladden

Other Word Forms

• unjoyed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of joy¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English joy(e), from Old French joie, joye, from Late Latin gaudia, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of Latin gaudium “joy,” equivalent to gaud- (base of gaudēre “to be glad”) + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of joy¹

C13: from Old French joie, from Latin gaudium joy, from gaudēre to be glad

Idioms and Phrases

see burst with (joy); pride and joy.

Synonym Study

See pleasure.

Example Sentences

“The thoughts grew heavier by the second, and suddenly, everything felt ice cold and crushing. Now I knew there was absolutely no joy left in it for me.”

From Los Angeles Times

For the multihyphenate, the film is the culmination of a lifelong dream to honor him in all his complexity, both the joy and pain that they share in their time together.

From Los Angeles Times

“That was part of our goal: to create a space with a really low barrier to access for people who are cat-curious or just need a little moment of cat joy in their day.”

From Los Angeles Times

Anderson has just about cleaned his plate of cucumber salad, pita and hummus, and I’m fixing to leave him to the joys of having his portrait taken.

From Los Angeles Times

Rediscovering the joy in football is part of that new approach.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• amusement 
• bliss 
• charm 
• cheer 
• comfort 
• delight 
• elation 
• glee 
• humor 
• pride 
• satisfaction 
• wonder