happy ending
/ˌhæpi ˈɛndɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.60 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
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 the end of a massage.
Slang
Example Sentences
- "[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— […]"
- "The heroine was killed, and since then the happy ending has only been preserved in an appendix in the play."
- "[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."
- "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."
- "[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"."
- "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."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌhæpi ˈɛndɪŋ/
- British English: /ˌhæpi ˈɛndɪŋ/