merriment
Americannoun
-
cheerful or joyful gaiety; mirth; hilarity; laughter.
- Antonyms:
- melancholy, misery
-
Obsolete. a cause of mirth; a jest, entertainment, etc.
noun
Synonym Usage
See mirth.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of merriment
Explanation
Merriment can refer to fun activities or a feeling of happiness. Either way, a good time is being had. You know how merry means happy? Merriment refers to events and feelings that are happy. A party is a perfect example of merriment. If you hear a bunch of people laughing and joking, you might say, "Why all the merriment?" Merriment can also be an emotion: if you're very excited or happy, you're experiencing merriment.
Vocabulary lists containing merriment
Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
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Words for the International Day of Happiness
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Chains
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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.
Issa is solidly built, close-shaved, stern in command but given to bouts of merriment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
My self-consciousness about the high number of touring productions persuaded me not to include “Shucked” at the Hollywood Pantages, which lightened the summer with its country bumpkin merriment.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025
A festival on a sandbar brought 90 minutes of merriment to hundreds of people in the Isles of Scilly.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2025
There shall be no more merriment, and in the words of Nat King Cole, it is time to straighten up and fly right.
From Salon • Jan. 29, 2025
There was no merriment in the Lady of the Keep, she never laughed though she often smiled; yet she could put Ged at ease almost with one smile.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
