happy

Meanings

1. Feeling or showing pleasure and joy.
2. Willing, or pleased, to do something.

Example sentences

• "She was happy when she heard the good news."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "We are a happy family."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "I am happy to help you with your homework."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "He was not happy with the result of the test."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• glad : Glad is usually about one event: you are glad that something happened. Happy can describe a whole mood or a whole life.

Word family and forms

Forms: happier, happiest

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "happy".

• happy birthday
• happy ending
• happy memories
• feel happy
• happy to help
• a happy family

Idioms and phrases

happy medium

A good balance between two extremes.

"We want a happy medium between working hard and resting."

happy-go-lucky

Cheerful and not worried about the future.

"He is a happy-go-lucky boy who never plans ahead."

Origin

Happy probably comes from hap, an old English word for luck or chance, so it first meant fortunate. Over the centuries the meaning moved from being lucky to feeling joy.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Hap is luck, so a happy person is a lucky one. Think of "happy" as "hap" plus a smile.

Test yourself

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