happy

[ hap-ee ]
See synonyms for: happyhappierhappiest on Thesaurus.com

adjective,hap·pi·er, hap·pi·est.
  1. delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: I'm so happy to see you!

  2. characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy: a happy mood;a happy frame of mind.

  1. willing to be helpful, as with assistance, a contribution, or participation: We’ll be happy to bring a couple of salads to the party.

  2. favored by fortune; fortunate or lucky: Our home country is a happy, fruitful land.

  3. (used as part of an expression of good wishes on a special occasion): Happy Valentine’s Day to my husband.Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

  4. apt or felicitous, as actions, utterances, or ideas: Their collaboration was a happy accident.

  5. obsessed by or quick to use the item indicated (usually used in combination): He was a trigger-happy gangster.Everybody is gadget-happy these days.

Idioms about happy

  1. happy as a clam. See entry at happy as a clam.

Origin of happy

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Middle English; see origin at hap1, -y1

Other words for happy

Opposites for happy

Other words from happy

  • o·ver·hap·py, adjective
  • qua·si-hap·py, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use happy in a sentence

  • And that was that if he and his wife were to ever live together again and be happy, the family were to be kept out of it.

    The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux
  • Cousin George's position is such a happy one, that conversation is to him a thing superfluous.

    Physiology of The Opera | John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
  • Liszt gazed at "his Hans," as he calls him, with the fondest pride, and seemed perfectly happy over his arrival.

  • M'Bongo and his whole court are now clothed, I am happy to say, at least to a certain extent.

  • He was aware that his act by this time, had helped nobody, had made no one happy or satisfied—not even himself.

    The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux

British Dictionary definitions for happy (1 of 2)

happy

/ (ˈhæpɪ) /


adjective-pier or -piest
  1. feeling, showing, or expressing joy; pleased

  2. willing: I'd be happy to show you around

  1. causing joy or gladness

  2. fortunate; lucky: the happy position of not having to work

  3. aptly expressed; appropriate: a happy turn of phrase

  4. (postpositive) informal slightly intoxicated

interjection
  1. (in combination): happy birthday; happy Christmas

Origin of happy

1
C14: see hap 1, -y 1

Derived forms of happy

  • happily, adverb
  • happiness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for -happy (2 of 2)

-happy

adj combining form
  1. denoting excessive enthusiasm for or devotion to: gun-happy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with happy

happy

In addition to the idioms beginning with happy

  • happy as the day is long
  • happy camper
  • happy hour
  • happy hunting ground
  • happy medium

also see:

  • many happy returns
  • trigger happy

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.