happy

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle English hap (“chance”) + -y

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhæpi/

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• Rhymes: -æpi

Adjective

happy (comparative happier, superlative happiest)

1. Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; having the feeling arising from the consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, as peace, tranquillity, comfort; contented; joyous.
   • 1769, Oxford Standard text, Bible (King James), Psalms, 144, xv,

     Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

   • 1777, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man in Four Epistles: Argument of Epistle II, in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq, Volume III, page 26,

     The learn'd is happy nature to explore, / The fool is happy that he knows no more ;

2. Favored by luck or fortune; lucky.
   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist, 2006, Elibron Classics (imprint), page 227,

     […] I may presume that what I have hitherto discoursed will induce you to think, that chymists have been much more happy in finding experiments than the causes of them; or in assigning the principles by which they may best be explained.

3. Dexterous; ready; apt; felicitous.
   • 1761, Jonathan Swift, A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation: Introduction, in The works of Dr Jonathan Swift, Volume VII, page 246,

     For instance, one lady can give an anſwer better than aſk a queſtion : one gentleman is happy at a reply ; another excels in a rejoinder : one can revive a languiſhing converſation by a ſudden ſurpriſing ſentence ; […] .

4. Content, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).

   Are you happy to pay me back by the end of the week?

   Are you happy with your internet service provider?

Usage notes

• (favored by hap, luck or fortune): Said of expedients, efforts, ventures, omens, etc.
• (experiencing the effect of favorable fortune): Said of people, hours, thoughts, times, etc.

Synonyms

• (favored by luck): lucky, fortunate, prosperous, cheerful, content, delighted, elated, exultant

See Wikisaurus:happy

Antonyms

• sad
• unhappy

Derived terms

Terms derived from happy (adjective)

happify happily happiness happy as a lark happy as a pig in shit happy as Larry

happy bunny happy chappy happy-clappy happy families happy family happy-go-lucky

happy hour happy slapping slap-happy trigger-happy

Translations

enjoying peace, comfort, etc.; contented, joyous

Afrikaans: bly, gelukkig Albanian: i lumtur (sq), i kënaqur (sq), (i) gëzuar American Sign Language: OpenB@Chest-PalmBack-OpenB@Chest-PalmBack Upanddown-Upanddown OpenB@SideNeckhigh-PalmBack-OpenB@SideNeckhigh-PalmBack Arabic: سعيد (ar) (saʿīd), فرح (ar) (fáriḥ) Armenian: երջանիկ (hy) (erǰanik) Asturian: feliz, contentu, gayoleru, gayasperu Catalan: feliç (ca) m. Chamicuro: pya'kijnani Chinese: Mandarin: 高興 (cmn), 高兴 (cmn) (gāoxìng), 愉快 (cmn) (yúkuài), 快樂 (cmn), 快乐 (cmn) (kuàilè), 幸福 (cmn) (xìngfú) Min Nan: 歡喜 (hoaⁿ-hí), 快樂 (khòai-lo̍k) Croatian: sretan (hr) Czech: šťastný (cs) Dalmatian: alegr Danish: glad (da), lykkelig (da) Dutch: gelukkig (nl), blij (nl) Esperanto: feliĉa (eo) Estonian: õnnelik (et) Fijian: marau (fj) Finnish: onnellinen (fi), iloinen (fi), tyytyväinen (fi) French: heureux (fr) m., heureuse (fr) f., content (fr) m., contente (fr) f., bienheureux (fr) m., bienheureuse (fr) f. Georgian: ბედნიერი (ka) (bednieri) German: glücklich (de) Greek: ευχαριστημένος (el) (efcharistiménos) m., χαρούμενος (el) (charoúmenos) m. Haitian Creole: kontan Hawaiian: hauʻoli Hebrew: מאושר (he) (me'ooshar), שָׂמֵחַ (he) (same'akh) Hindi: ख़ुश (hi) (xuś), प्रसन्न (hi) (prasann), सुखी (hi) (sukhī) Hungarian: boldog (hu) Icelandic: hamingjusamur (is) Ido: felica (io) Indonesian: senang (id) Irish: áthasach (ga), sona (ga) Italian: felice (it) m. and f., lieto (it) m., lieta (it) f.

Japanese: 幸せな (ja) (しあわせな, shiawase-na), 幸福な (ja) (こうふくな, kōfuku-na) Korean: 행복하다 (ko) (haengbok-hada), 기뻐하다 (ko) (gippeo-hada), 기쁘다 (ko) (gippeuda) Kurdish: Sorani: دڵ خۆش (ku) (dill xosh), خه‌نی (ku) (xení) Latin: laetus (la) Latvian: laimīgs (lv), priecīgs (lv) Lithuanian: laimingas (lt) Lojban: gleki (jbo) Luxembourgish: glécklech (lb) Maltese: kuntenti (mt) Manx: maynrey (gv) Norwegian: glad (no), lykkelig (no) Old English: blīþe (ang), glæd (ang), ēadiġ (ang), wynfull (ang) Persian: خوش (fa) (xoš) Polish: szczęśliwy m., szczęśliwa f., szczęśliwe n., szczęśliwi pl., szczęśliwe pl.,f. Portuguese: feliz (pt) Romani: baxtalo m., baxtali m., baxtale m. Romanian: fericit (ro) m., bucuros (ro) m. Russian: счастливый (ru) (sčastlívyj), радостный (ru) (rádostnyj) Scots: blithe (sco) Scottish Gaelic: sona, toilichte, àghmhor Serbian: Cyrillic: срећан m. Roman: srećan m. Slovene: srečen (sl) Spanish: feliz (es) m. and f., alegre (es) m. and f., contento (es) m., satisfecho (es) m. Swedish: glad (sv) c., glatt (sv) n., lycklig (sv) c., lyckligt (sv) n. Tagalog: masaya (tl) Telugu: ప్రశాంతం (te) (prasamtam), ప్రసన్నత (te) (prasannata) Thai: มีความสุข (th) (mee kwaam sòok) Turkish: mutlu (tr) Urdu: خوش (ur) (xuś) Vietnamese: mừng (vi) West Frisian: bliid (fy)

fortunate

Afrikaans: gelukkig Arabic: محظوظ (ar) (maḥẓūẓ) Catalan: feliç Chinese: Mandarin: 幸運的 (zh), 幸运的 (zh) (xìngyùn de) Croatian: sretan (hr) m. Czech: šťastný (cs) Danish: heldig (da) Dutch: gelukkig (nl) Esperanto: feliĉa (eo) Estonian: õnnelik (et) Finnish: hyvä (fi), onnekas (fi), onnellinen (fi) French: heureux (fr) m., heureuse (fr) f., chanceux (fr) m., chanceuse (fr) f. German: glücklich (de) Greek: ευτυχής (eftikhis) m., ευτυχισμένος (eftikhismenos) m. Hindi: ख़ुश (hi) (xuś), प्रसन्न (hi) (prasann) Hungarian: szerencsés (hu) Icelandic: heppilegur (is) Indonesian: untung, mujur Irish: séanmhar (ga), sona (ga) Italian: fortunato (it) m., fortunata (it) f. Japanese: 幸運な (ja) (こううんな, kōun-na), 運のよい (ja) (うんのよい, un no yoi)

Korean: 운좋은 (ko) (unjoheun) Kurdish: Sorani: به‌خته‌وه‌ر (ku) (bextewer) Latin: felix (la) Lithuanian: laimingas Luxembourgish: glécklech (lb) Norwegian: heldig (no) Portuguese: feliz (pt) Romanian: norocos Russian: удачный (ru) (udáčnyj), счастливый (ru) (sčastlívyj) Serbian: Cyrillic: срећан m. Roman: srećan m. Slovak: šťastný (sk) Slovene: srečen (sl) Spanish: afortunado (es), feliz (es) Swedish: gynnsam (sv) c., gynnsamt (sv) n., lyckad (sv) c., lyckat (sv) n. Tagalog: masaya (tl), suwerte (tl) Telugu: అదృవ్ష్టవంతమైన (te) (adrushtavamtamaina) Turkish: şanslı (tr) Vietnamese: sướng (vi), sung sướng (vi), may (vi), may mắn (vi), hạnh phúc (vi)

dexterous; ready; apt; felicitous

Afrikaans: handig, kundig, slim Dutch: handig (nl), bedreven (nl), kundig (nl) Esperanto: feliĉa (eo)

Finnish: kätevä (fi), aulis (fi) Greek: ευτυχής (eftikhis) m., ευτυχισμένος (eftikhismenos) m. Vietnamese: tài tình (vi)

content (to do something); having no objection (to something)

Afrikaans: tevrede, gelukkig Catalan: feliç Croatian: zadovoljan (hr) m. Czech: spokojený (cs) Dutch: tevreden (nl) Esperanto: vole (willingly), kun plezuro (with pleasure), kontenta pri (happy with) Finnish: halukas, suostuvainen French: satisfait (fr) m., satisfaite (fr) f., content (fr) m., contente (fr) f., (willingly) prêt (fr) m., (willingly) prête (fr) f. German: mit (etwas) einverstanden sein Hungarian: elégedett; meg van elégedve Irish: sásta (ga)

Italian: contento (it) m., contenta (it) f. Norwegian: fornøyd (no) Polish: zadowolony (pl) m., zadowolona (pl) f., zadowolone (pl) n., zadowoleni (pl) m. pl., zadowolone (pl) f. pl. Romanian: mulțumit (ro), satisfăcut (ro) m. Scottish Gaelic: toilichte, sàsaichte Serbian: Cyrillic: задовољан m. Roman: zadovoljan m. Swedish: nöjd (sv) c., nöjt (sv) n. Thai: สบายใจ (th) Vietnamese: vui lòng (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Konkani: khoxi Tagalog: maligaya, masaya, kagalakan, Welsh: dedwydd, gwynfydedig, hapus, swynedig

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: none · river · change · #508: happy · hours · clear · pretty