overjoyed

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈd͡ʒɔɪd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈd͡ʒɔɪd/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪd

Adjective

overjoyed (comparative more overjoyed, superlative most overjoyed)

1. Very happy.

   Fans were overjoyed at / by the sight of their team handing the visitors such a decisive defeat.

   After a long, arduous trek, we were overjoyed to catch sight of our destination at last.

   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     The flat transgression of a schoolboy, who, being overjoyed with finding a birds’ nest, shows it his companion, and he steals it.

   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 9, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano‎^[1], volume 2, London: for the author, page 85:

     They were most agreeably surprised to see me, and I quite overjoyed at meeting with them.

   • 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, chapter 15, in Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC, page 150:

     Diana was not the most discerning of mortals, but just at this moment it struck her that Anne was not looking exactly overjoyed.

   • 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, chapter 8, in This Mournable Body‎^[2], Minneapolis: Graywolf Press:

     You are overjoyed the first few times you are invited to an interview, dressing carefully on each occasion in your Lady Dis and suit that now hangs encouragingly loose.

2. (obsolete) Overly happy.
   • 1616, Daniel Dyke, “The Historie of Christs Temptation”, in Two Treatises‎^[3], London: Ralph Mab, pages 211–212:

     Which must teach vs not to be ouer-ioyed with any of Gods fauours, and honours, but euen then to thinke of, and to prepare for some following after-claps, and as contentedly to endure the one, as cheerefully receiue the other.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:happy

Translations

very happy

• Dutch: overgelukkig (nl)
• Finnish: ikionnellinen (fi), ilosta suunniltaan
• French: ravi (fr), enchanté (fr)
• German: überglücklich (de), hocherfreut (de)
• Irish: an-áthasach, lúcháir a bheith ort (to be overjoyed)
• Norman: enjoué
• Serbo-Croatian: prezadovoljan (sh)
• Spanish: exultante (es), eufórico (es), muy feliz
• Swedish: överlycklig (sv)
• Vietnamese: hí hửng, hí ha hí hửng

Verb

overjoyed

1. simple past and past participle of overjoy