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• paradise
  paradise

  noun

  heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.
• Paradise
  Paradise

  noun

  a town in N California.

paradise

¹ American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

• paradises
  plural

1. heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.

2. an intermediate place for the departed souls of the righteous awaiting resurrection.

3. (often initial capital letter) Eden.

4. a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness.

5. a state of supreme happiness; bliss.

6. Architecture.

   1. parvis.

   2. an enclosure beside a church, as an atrium or cloister.

7. Italian Paradiso.  (initial capital letter, italics) the third and concluding part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting heaven, through which he is guided by Beatrice.

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Paradise ² American  

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

1. a town in N California.

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paradise British  

/ ˈpærəˌdaɪs /

noun

1. heaven as the ultimate abode or state of the righteous

2. Islam the sensual garden of delights that the Koran promises the faithful after death

3. Also called: limbo.  (according to some theologians) the intermediate abode or state of the just prior to the Resurrection of Jesus, as in Luke 23:43

4. the place or state of happiness enjoyed by Adam before the first sin; the Garden of Eden

5. any place or condition that fulfils all one's desires or aspirations

6. a park in which foreign animals are kept

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paradise Cultural  

1. A place or state of pure happiness. Christians (see also Christian) have identified paradise both with the Garden of Eden and with heaven.

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paradise Idioms  

1. see fool's paradise.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paradises
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paradise

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English paradīs, from Late Latin paradīsus, from Greek parádeisos “park, pleasure-grounds,” from Old Iranian; compare Avestan pairi-daēza “enclosure”; akin to Greek perí peri- ( def. ), teîkhos “mound, wall”

Explanation

In some religions, paradise is considered the ultimate destination, but in general, it's any place that is ideal and free from worry. Eden, Shangri-la, or even the corner nail salon — each might represent paradise to someone. Paradise comes from the Greek paradeisos meaning "park, paradise, Garden of Eden." The Garden of Eden was a paradise free from all worries until Eve ate the apple that broke the dream. Often when you see advertisements for tourism in the Caribbean, a sense of paradise is evoked by the beautiful images and carefree descriptions.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paradise Paradise paradises

In the dog days of summer, there’s no better place to escape the heat than inside the air-conditioned paradise of a movie theater.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

While many Chinese cities have restricted motorcycling, Chongqing has embraced it and become a biker's paradise.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

But the longer we spend time at Arioka, the more that paradise starts resembling a prison.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

They have enlisted Hao—apparently a much-in-demand dating coach—to guide them to marital paradise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

That Fullbrook was some kind of paradise nestled in the hills of New England.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

The median list price of a home on southwest Florida’s Paradise Coast was about $700,000.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

An evacuation warning was temporarily issued for the residents living in the 133 homes at the Paradise Ranch Estates Mobile Home Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

The kits born last week appear in the evening and local residents in Paradise Fields have been gathering with cameras to film the mother and her babies after dark.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Their Paradise Cove condo is not unlike the home one of the main characters inhabits 30 years later in the book’s second half.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

It was located on the edge of Paradise, backing up against Joe Louis Lane, a dirt path that snaked through the back alleys of the black community.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

“Sinkholes are paradises for many rare and endangered plant species. We are continuing to make new discoveries.”

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024

“Of course, paradises don’t last,” the unapologetic and rare local conservative mused.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2022

White understands the nuances of class struggle and how manicured paradises have a way of relaxing the unsuspecting into dropping their masks.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2021

In the early days of the pandemic, cities and residents sought to keep coronavirus patients away from their paradises.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2020

Some scholars imagine ancient hunter-gatherer societies as peaceful paradises, and argue that war and violence began only with the Agricultural Revolution, when people started to accumulate private property.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• bliss
• heaven
• utopia
• wonderland