Jump to content

happy ending

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
WOTD – 31 December 2025

Etymology

[edit]
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *kob-der.
Proto-Germanic *hampą
Old Norse happbor.
Middle English hap
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
Middle English happy
English happy
Middle English endyng
English ending
English happy ending

    From happy (adjective) +‎ ending (noun).

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    happy ending (plural happy endings)

    1. (narratology) A conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.
      Synonyms: eucatastrophe, fairy-tale ending, (one sense) happy ever after, (one sense) happily ever after
      • 1750, [Samuel Richardson], “Postscript. Referred to in the Preface. In which Several Objections that have been Made, as well to the Catastrophe as to Different Parts of the Preceding History, are Briefly Considered.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], 3rd edition, volume VIII, London: Printed for S. Richardson, and sold by John Osborn, […]; [b]y Andrew Millar, […]; [b]y J[ohn] and J[ames] Rivington, […]; [a]nd by J. Leake, […], →OCLC, page 278:
        [S]ome Gentlemen, declared againſt Tragedies in general, and in favour of Comedies, […] And hovv vvas this happy ending to be brought about? VVhy, by this very eaſy and trite expedient; to vvit, by reforming Lovelace, and marrying him to Clariſſa— […]
      • 1827 June 8, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sydney, N.S.W.: George Howe, →OCLC, page 4, column 3:
        The heroine was killed, and since then the happy ending has only been preserved in an appendix in the play.
      • 1884 September, Henry James, “The Art of Fiction”, in Partial Portraits, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1888, →OCLC, page 382:
        [A]nother would say that it [a novel being good] depends on a "happy ending," on a distribution at the last of prizes, pensions, husbands, wives, babies, millions, appended paragraphs, and cheerful remarks.
      • 1930 October, Bertrand Russell, “Byronic Unhappiness”, in The Conquest of Happiness, London: George Allen & Unwin, published December 1930, →OCLC, part I (Causes of Unhappiness), page 33:
        Life is not to be conceived on the analogy of a melodrama in which the hero and heroine go through incredible misfortunes for which they are compensated by a happy ending.
      • 1934, Edith Wharton, “New York and the Mount”, in A Backward Glance, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton-Century Company, →OCLC, page 147:
        [A]s we left the theatre, he [William Dean Howells] summed up the reason of the play's failure. "Yes—what the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending".
      • 1944, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 1, in The Razor’s Edge […], 1st American edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co., →OCLC, section i, page 1:
        Death ends all things and so is the comprehensive conclusion of a story, but marriage finishes it very properly too and the sophisticated are ill-advised to sneer at what is by convention termed a happy ending.
      • 1949, Joseph Campbell, “The Monomyth”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Cleveland, Oh.; New York, N.Y.: Meridian Books, The World Publishing Company, published April 1969, →OCLC, pages 25–26:
        Modern romance, like Greek tragedy, celebrates the mystery of dismemberment, which is life in time. The happy ending is justly scorned as a misrepresentation; for the world, as we know it, as we have seen it, yields but one ending: death, disintegration, dismemberment, and the crucifixion of our heart with the passing of the forms that we have loved.
      • 1957 July 6, Michael Maltese, What’s Opera, Doc? (Merrie Melodies), spoken by Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc), Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Cartoons, →OCLC:
        Well, what did you expect in an opera? A happy ending?
      • 1958 September, J. M. Dunn, “The Afonwen Line—1”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 595-596:
        On the return journey the engine ran short of coal, and came to a stand near Penygroes through shortage of steam. Fortunately, there was some peat in a nearby field, which the enginemen dug and the directors helped to carry to the engine. Steam was soon raised and the story had a happy ending!
      • 1987 November 12, “Storybook Love”, in Willy DeVille (music), The Princess Bride (soundtrack), Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Records, →OCLC:
        And she said: / "Don't you know that storybook loves, / Always have a happy ending."
    2. (by extension, slang, euphemistic, vulgar) An orgasm, especially one experienced by a male client after a hand job (“stimulation of the penis using the hand”) provided by a masseuse at or towards the end of a massage.
      • 2008, Chelsea Handler, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, New York, N.Y.: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 147:
        "This not sucky sucky place, we don't do that, wesbian!" / "No," I argued. "I don't want sucky sucky, I just want a massage. It's okay if she doesn't know how to give a massage, but could she at least tickle my back?" / "No happy ending!" she yelled, getting louder. / "I don't want a happy ending, you hot mess, I just want a little back rub. […]" It was mildly humiliating to be arguing with Dim Sum while I was lying naked on a table and being called a wesbian.

    Translations

    [edit]
    conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness

    See also

    [edit]

    Further reading

    [edit]
    Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=happy_ending&oldid=89288645"