happiness

English

Etymology

From .

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinəs/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

2. (uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy.
   • 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer

     Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.

3. (archaic, uncountable) prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.
   • 1776, United States Declaration of Independence

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

4. (archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
   • 1643, — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, I-i

     All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!

5. (obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.

   Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness, as well as care. — Alexander Pope.

Synonyms

• felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
• blessedness (dated or religious)
• bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
• joy
• pleasure

Usage notes

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

Antonyms

• unhappiness
• haplessness
• suffering

Translations

emotion of being happy

• Afrikaans: geluk (af)
• Albanian: lumturi (sq)
• Arabic: سَعَادَة f (saʕāda)
• Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʻyun)
• Asturian: felicidá f
• Azeri: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
• Bashkir: бәхет (bəxet)
• Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje)
• Bengali: সুখ (shukh)
• Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
• Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
• Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂／快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài)

• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Danish: lykke (da) c, glæde c
• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n, vreugde (nl) f
• Esperanto: feliĉeco
• Estonian: õnn (et)
• Faroese: gleði f
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
• French: bonheur (fr) m
• Galician: felicidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ბედნიერება (bedniereba)
• German: Glück (de) n, Glücklichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía)
• Hawaiian: hauʻoli
• Hebrew: אושר (he) m ('ósher)
• Hindi: ख़ुशी f (xuśī)
• Hungarian: boldogság (hu)
• Icelandic: gleði (is) f, hamingja (is) f
• Ido: feliceso (io)
• Indonesian: kebahagiaan (id)
• Ingush: ираз (iraz)
• Irish: sonas m
• Italian: felicità (it) f, gioia (it) f
• Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 愉快 (ja) (ゆかい, yukai)
• Kazakh: бақыт (baqyt)
• Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (so’pʰea’ meaŋkʊəl)
• Korean: 행복 (ko) (haengbok) (幸福 (ko))
• Kutayca sedef (tr),
• Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt)
• Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk)
• Latgalian: laime
• Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f
• Latvian: laime f
• Lithuanian: laimė (lt)
• Luxembourgish: Gléck n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
• Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan
• Malayalam: ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ), സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṁ), ആഹ്ളാദം (āhḷādaṁ)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
• Mongolian: аз жаргал (az žargal)
• Navajo: ił hózhǫ́
• Northern Sami: illu
• Norwegian: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m

  Nynorsk: lukke

• Novial:
• Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür
• Old Norse: gleði f
• Persian: خوشبختی (fa) (xoš'bàxti), شادی (fa) (šâdi), سعادت (fa) (sa'âdat)
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n, radość (pl) f
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Quechua: kusi
• Romani: baxt f
• Romanian: bucurie (ro) f, fericire (ro) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Sanskrit: सुख (sa) n (sukhá)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: срећа f

  Roman: sreća (sh) f

• Shor: ырыс (ırıs)
• Sinhalese: සන්තෝෂය (santōṣaya)
• Slovak: šťastie n, radosť f
• Slovene: sreča (sl) f
• Spanish: felicidad (es) f
• Swahili: raha (sw)
• Swedish: lycka (sv) c, glädje (sv) c, fröjd (sv) c
• Tagalog: kaligayahan, ligaya (tl)
• Tajik: бахт (baxt), саодат (saodat), шодӣ (tg) (šodi)
• Tamil: மகிழ்ச்சி (ta) (makiḻcci), சந்தோஷம் (ta) (cantōṣam)
• Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), сәгадәть (sägadät’), сәгадәт (tt) (sägadät)
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)
• Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk)
• Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba)
• Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr)
• Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja)
• Urdu: خوشی f (xuśī)
• Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (uz)
• Venetian: ałegrézsa f, ałegrìa f
• Vietnamese: hạnh phúc (vi) (幸福)
• Welsh: hapusrwydd (cy)
• Yiddish: גליק n (glik)

good luck

• Bulgarian: късмет (bg) m (kǎsmet)
• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Dutch: geluk (nl) n, fortuin (nl)
• Finnish: onni (fi)
• Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería), προκοπή (el) f (prokopí), ευπραγία (el) f (efpragía)
• Hungarian: szerencse (hu)
• Icelandic: lukka f
• Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f
• Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (kōun)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: laime f
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob)
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ)
• Norwegian: hell (no) n
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: fortuna (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča), везе́ние (ru) n (vezénije), фортуна (ru) f (fortuna)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m

agreeable feeling

• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía), χαρά (el) f (chará)
• Italian: felicità (it) f, allegria (it) f
• Latvian: laime f
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ)
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)

fortuitous elegance

• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} سَعَادَة f (saʕāda)
• Bengali: ^{(please verify)} সুখ (sukha)
• Cebuano: ^{(please verify)} kalipay
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} feliĉo
• French: ^{(please verify)} bonheur (fr) m
• German: ^{(please verify)} Fröhlichkeit (de) f, ^{(please verify)} Glück (de) n
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ಸುಖ (kn) (sukha), ^{(please verify)} ಸಂತೋಷ (kn) (santōṣa)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 행복 (ko) (haengbok)
• Kurdish:
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} glede (no) m, ^{(please verify)} lykke (no) m
• Old English:
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} خوشبختی (fa) (xoš'bàxti)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} àigh m, ^{(please verify)} sonas m, ^{(please verify)} subhachas m, ^{(please verify)} toileachas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} срећа f

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f, ^{(please verify)} срећа (sh) f
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} sreča (sl) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} glädje (sv), ^{(please verify)} lycka (sv)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} hạnh phúc (vi), ^{(please verify)} phúc (vi)

References

• “happiness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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