gleeful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gleeful
Explanation
If you're gleeful, you're delighted or joyful. The sound of children's gleeful laughter is one sign of a successful birthday party. When you feel gleeful, you're more than happy: you're exuberant and joyous. A friend's gleeful face tells you she's gotten great news or heard a hilarious joke, and gleeful kids will sometimes even scream with joy. In the 17th century, the alternate adjective gleesome competed with gleeful — both come from an Old English root, gliu, which means "mirth, play, sport," and also "music" and "mockery."
Vocabulary lists containing gleeful
Emotions on Display
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List 5
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Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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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.
As a director, Wilde lands this jump with gleeful ease, making it clear what she meant when she recently described the dreadful reaction to her sophomore film, “Don’t Worry Darling,” as “liberating.”
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Haldeman, the premiere of Bernstein’s “Mass” at the new Kennedy Center, and gleeful about the New York Times’s brutal review of the work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
"You're getting sacked in the morning," was the chant directed at Slot by the gleeful City supporters as their side scored four goals in 20 minutes either side of half-time.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026
Hanson let out a gleeful howl when he found one rising 2 feet above his head, representing 2 feet of growth every year since the KNP Complex fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
The little wireless operator dissolved in a fit of gleeful laugher, but still steadfastly held up the umbrella over Maddie’s head.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
