joyful
Americanadjective
-
full of joy, as a person or one's heart; glad; delighted.
- Antonyms:
- melancholy
-
showing or expressing joy, as looks, actions, or speech.
-
causing or bringing joy, as an event, a sight, or news; delightful.
the joyful announcement of their marriage.
adjective
-
full of joy; elated
-
expressing or producing joy
a joyful look
a joyful occasion
Other Word Forms
- joyfully adverb
- joyfulness noun
- overjoyful adjective
- overjoyfully adverb
- overjoyfulness noun
- unjoyful adjective
- unjoyfully adverb
Etymology
Origin of joyful
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.
"When I'm at my most joyful or euphoric, I feel like I've seen heaven for a moment," she says.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
"You rejoice and cry, and you tremble inside from the emotion -- seeing those eyes that are both sad and joyful and filled with tears," she told AFP during a recent prisoner exchange.
From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026
For Amanda Thompson, co-founder of the Manchester homelessness charity Two Brews, which booked the hotel rooms for Calumn, his recent progress has been joyful to witness.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
The negativity dissipates as a young man walks into the clubhouse, baseball cap on backward for the moment, energetic and respectful and joyful and supremely confident.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026
He sprang up and tore a joyful path around the clearing, running by Bristle in a blaze of red fur.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
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.
