/ˈhæp.i/
OriginFrom Middle English happy (“fortunate, happy”), perhaps an alteration of Middle English happyn, happen (“fortunate, happy”), possibly related to or from Old Norse heppinn (“fortunate, happy”); and potentially assimilated to be equivalent to hap (“chance, luck, fortune”) + -y. Compare also Icelandic heppinn (“lucky”), Faroese heppin (“fortunate, lucky, happy”), Norwegian Nynorsk heppen (“lucky”), Scots happin (“fortunate, blessed”). See further at hap.
- Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.
“Music makes me feel happy.”
“Happye are thy men, and happie are these thy seruantes[…]”
“Happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”
- Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.
“[…] I think 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 Pri”
“"Historians, you think," said Miss Tilney, "are not happy in their flights of fancy. They display imagination without raising interest. […]"”
- archaicElect or saved after death, blessed.
“How fares it with the happy dead?”
- Content, willing, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).
“Are you happy to pay me back by the end of the week?”
“Yes, I am happy with the decision.”
“A Christian may be happier in low circumstances, than in high ones. He may be happier without rich friends, than with them. He may be happier in loneliness, than in a crowd of flatterers. He may be ha”
- usuallyBringing or being an instance of favourable fortune; apt, felicitous, fortunate, propitious.
“happy coincidence”
“The common privilege of your ſex affords you the happy opportunity of alleviating your ſorrows by communicating your ſentiments and feelings to some faithful friend; but to women, even this relief is ”
“You would, even by this most favourable result, be at best only replaced in the situation, and restored to the happy opportunity which you at present possess:[…]”
- in-compoundsFavoring or inclined to use.
“slaphappy, trigger-happy”
“We live in a sue-happy society. If Santa slides off your roof and busts his tailbone, he could sue you, and probably will.”
““Baby, I was a loser / Several years on the dole / An Englishman with a very high voice / Doing rock ’n’ roll,” sings falsetto-happy frontman Justin Hawkins at the start of “Every Inch Of You,” Hot Ca”
- often, rareDexterous, ready, skilful.
“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”
- Implying “May you have a happy ⁓” or similar; used in phrases to wish someone happiness or good fortune at the time of a festival, celebration, or other event or activity.
“Happy birthday!”
“Happy Fourth of July!”
“Happy anniversary!”
- informal, rareA happy event, thing, person, etc.
“The strike split the Chicano community. Many workers at Farah crossed picket lines and continued to keep the plant operating. They were known as the "happies" because they wore buttons which featured ”
- informal, intransitiveOften followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.
“Whenever I started drinking again after abstaining for any period of time, it usually was an effort to relieve stress and to "happy up."”
“[H]e smiled […] then asked my name. He checked it against his clipboard then sadly shook his head as if he'd been rejected himself. Told him I was looking for employment and he happied up again, able ”
- informal, transitiveOften followed by up: to make happy; to brighten, to cheer, to enliven.
“People really didn't want their Party Motivators in their photos, anonymous dancers, happying up the place. It spooked them.”
“[…] [William] Glasser would probably say that happy people are "happying" themselves by choosing behaviors that help them to feel happy (working at their relationships, engaging in productive work act”
- countable, uncountableA male given name.
- countable, uncountableA surname transferred from the nickname.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in White County, Arkansas.
- countable, uncountableA township in Graham County, Kansas.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Perry County, Kentucky.
- countable, uncountableA town in Randall County and Swisher County, Texas.
Formshappier(comparative) · more happy(comparative) · happiest(superlative) · most happy(superlative) · happie(alternative, obsolete) · happies(plural) · happies(present, singular, third-person) · happying(participle, present) · happied(participle, past) · happied(past) · Happys(plural)
Source: Wiktionary