happy
/ˈhæpi/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.35 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
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.
adj
Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.
adj
Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.
Archaic
adj
Bringing or being an instance of favourable fortune; apt, felicitous, fortunate, propitious.
adj
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.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "For the moſt happy univerſe is not one that conſiſts of the greateſt poſſible number of the moſt happy beings only ;[…]"
- "Whate’er the Paſſion, Knowledge, Fame, or Pelf, Not one will change his Neighbour with himſelf. The Learn’d are happy, Nature to explore ; The Fool is happy, that he knows no more ; The Rich are happy in the plenty given ; The Poor contents him with the Care of Heaven."
- "But since the happy are sufficient to themselves they have no need of friends; and hence it is said,"
Etymology
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 From 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: happy, happyn, heppinn
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhæpi/
- British English: /ˈhæpi/
Usage
Inflected Forms
happier (comparative)
more happy (comparative)
happiest (superlative)
most happy (superlative)
happie (alternative, obsolete)
happies (plural)
happies (present, singular)
happying (participle, present)
happied (participle, past)
happied (past)
Happys (plural)