merry
1 Americanadjective
-
full of cheerfulness or gaiety; joyous in disposition or spirit.
a merry little man.
- Synonyms:
- glad, cheery, frolicsome, blithesome, blithe, happy
- Antonyms:
- sad
-
laughingly happy; mirthful; festively joyous; hilarious.
a merry time at the party.
- Antonyms:
- solemn
-
Archaic. causing happiness; pleasant; delightful.
idioms
noun
adjective
-
cheerful; jolly
-
very funny; hilarious
-
informal slightly drunk
-
archaic delightful
-
to revel; be festive
-
informal to disturb greatly; disrupt
Pronunciation
See Mary.
Other Word Forms
- merrily adverb
- merriness noun
- overmerrily adverb
- overmerriness noun
- overmerry adjective
- unmerrily adverb
- unmerry adjective
Etymology
Origin of merry
First recorded before 900; Middle English meri(e),myrie, murie, Old English myr(i)ge, mer(i)ge “pleasant, delightful”
Explanation
To be merry is to be happy, especially in a fun, festive way. Parties and celebrations are merry, and so are the fun people who attend them. This old fashioned word for “happy” is popular in December when people say, “Merry Christmas.” To be merry is to be happy, jaunty, and ready to frolic. A group of people laughing as they walk down the street is a merry gang. Anything merry is festive, often involving games, celebrations, and parties. A merry-go-round makes kids happy as it spins them around. Smiling and laughing are signs of being merry. If you go along your merry way, you walk away happily, maybe even skipping.
Vocabulary lists containing merry
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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"The Moustache" and "Who We Really Are"
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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.
And if you had that kind of a mother — or better, if you are that kind of a mother — the merry derangement O’Hara brought to her performances was soul-satisfying.
From Salon • Feb. 4, 2026
But in “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” his riotous narrative inspired by his boyhood yuletides in the 1920s, Dylan Thomas serves up a dissenting version of the holiday as a merry mess.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
"I would like to feel Christmassy, bright and merry every single day of my life."
From BBC • Dec. 6, 2025
Behold, a handy guide to the notable new releases being offered this season, all available to stream now, as well as some new-ish classics guaranteed to leave you feeling merry and bright.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025
So soon as Serjeant Clippinger was dispatched, and retreated with a scowl little calculated to welcome, Dr. Trefusis and Bono made merry in quiet tones at our reunion.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
