happiness

English

Alternative forms

• happinesse (obsolete)
• happyness (obsolete)

Etymology

From happy +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinɪs/, /ˈhæpinəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

2. (uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
   • 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer:

     Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.

3. (archaic, uncountable) Prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.
   • 1776, United States Declaration of Independence:

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

4. (archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 20, column 2:

     All happineſſe bechance to thee in Millaine.

5. (obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace, used especially of language.
   • 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 10:

     Some Beauties yet, no Precepts can declare, / For there's a Happineſs as well as Care.

Usage notes

• The word happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

Synonyms

• felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
• blessedness (dated or religious)
• bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
• high spirits
• joy, joyfulness, joyousness
• pleasure

Antonyms

• unhappiness
• haplessness
• suffering

Derived terms

• bluebird of happiness
• double happiness
• gross national happiness
• happiness pump
• money can't buy happiness
• trigger-happiness

 

Translations

emotion of being happy

Afrikaans: geluk (af) Albanian: lumturi (sq) f Arabic: سَعَادَة f (saʕāda), فَرَح (ar) (faraḥ) Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʻyun) Asturian: felicidá f Avar: талихӏ (taliḥʳ) Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət Bashkir: бәхет (bəxet) Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje) Bengali: সুখ (bn) (śukh) Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie) Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.) Catalan: felicitat (ca) f Cebuano: kalipay Chinese: Literary: 福 (fú), 礽 (réng), 祉 (zhǐ) Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂 / 快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài) Czech: štěstí (cs) n Danish: lykke (da) c, glæde c Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n, vreugde (nl) f Esperanto: feliĉo, feliĉeco Estonian: õnn (et) Farefare: pupeelum Faroese: gleði f Finnish: onnellisuus (fi), onni (fi), ilo (fi), riemu (fi) French: bonheur (fr) m Galician: felicidade (gl) f Georgian: ბედნიერება (bedniereba) German: Glück (de) n, Glücklichkeit (de) f Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía) Ancient: εὐδαιμονία f (eudaimonía) Guaraní: vy'a (gn) Hawaiian: hauʻoli Hebrew: אושר \ אֹשֶׁר (he) m ('ósher) Hindi: ख़ुशी f (xuśī) Hungarian: boldogság (hu) Hunsrik: Glick n Icelandic: gleði (is) f, hamingja (is) f Ido: feliceso (io) Indonesian: kebahagiaan (id) Ingrian: onni, ilo Ingush: ираз (iraz) Irish: sonas m, suáilceas m Italian: felicità (it) f, gioia (it) f Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 愉快 (ja) (ゆかい, yukai) Kabuverdianu: filisidadi Kazakh: бақыт (baqyt) Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (sophĕəʼmŭəngkŭəl), កាមសុខ (km) (kaamĕəʼsok), បរមសុខ (paʼraʼmaʼsok), បាមោជ្ជ (km) (paamaoccĕəʼ), បីតិ (km) (pəyteʼ), ប្រមោទ (km) (prɑmaot), ប្រីតា (km) (prəytaa) Korean: 행복(幸福) (ko) (haengbok), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 희열(喜悅) (ko) (huiyeol), 열락(悅樂) (yeollak) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: bextewerî (ku), seadet (ku) Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt) Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk) Latgalian: laime Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f Latvian: laime (lv) f Lithuanian: laimė (lt) Luxembourgish: Gléck n Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост (mk) f (radost) Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan Malayalam: സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṁ), ആഹ്ലാദം (ml) (āhlādaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ) Maltese: feliċita f Maori: uruhautanga, hurō Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa Middle English: wynne Mongolian: Cyrillic: аз жаргал (az žargal) Navajo: ił hózhǫ́ Northern Sami: illu Norwegian: Bokmål: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m Nynorsk: lukke Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür (oc) Old East Slavic: съчастиѥ n (sŭčastije) Old English: bliss (ang) f, ġefēa m Old Norse: gleði f Pannonian Rusyn: щесце n (ščesce) Pashto: خوشبختي (ps) f (xošbaxtí), سعادت (ps) m (sa'ādát) Persian: Iranian Persian: خوشْبَخْتی (xošbaxti), شادی (fa) (šâdi), سَعادَت (sa'âdat) Plautdietsch: Freid f, Häaj f Polish: szczęście (pl) n, radość (pl) f Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f Quechua: kusi Romani: baxt f Romanian: bucurie (ro) f, fericire (ro) f Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ) Sanskrit: सुख (sa) n (sukhá) Scottish Gaelic: àigh m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: сре̏ћа f Roman: srȅća f Shor: ырыс (ırıs) Sinhalese: සන්තෝෂය (santōṣaya) Slovak: šťastie n, radosť f Slovene: sreča (sl) f Spanish: felicidad (es) f Swahili: raha (sw) Swedish: lycka (sv) c, glädje (sv) c, fröjd (sv) c Tabasaran: бахт (baꭓt) Tagalog: kaligayahan, ligaya (tl) Tajik: бахт (baxt), саодат (saodat), шодӣ (tg) (šodi), хушбахтӣ (tg) (xušbaxti) Tamil: மகிழ்ச்சி (ta) (makiḻcci), சந்தோஷம் (ta) (cantōṣam) Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), сәгадәть (sägadät’), сәгадәт (tt) (sägadät) Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ) Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk) Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba) Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr) Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik Tuvan: аас-кежик (aas-kejik) Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ) Urdu: خُوشی f (xūśī), سَعادَت (ur) f (sa'ādat) Uyghur: بەخت (bext), خۇشاللىق (xushalliq), سائادەت (sa'adet), بەختلىك (bextlik), دىلشاتلىق (dilshatliq), ھالاۋەت (halawet) Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (uz), saodat (uz) Venetan: ałegrézsa f, ałegrìa f Vietnamese: hạnh phúc (vi) (幸福) Walloon: bouneur (wa) m Welsh: hapusrwydd (cy) Yiddish: גליק n (glik)

good luck

Bulgarian: късме́т (bg) m (kǎsmét) Czech: štěstí (cs) n Dutch: geluk (nl) n, fortuin (nl) Finnish: onni (fi), onnekkuus (fi) German: Glück (de) n Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería), προκοπή (el) f (prokopí), ευπραγία (el) f (efpragía) Hungarian: szerencse (hu) Icelandic: lukka f Ingrian: onni, lykky Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (こううん, kōun) Korean: 행운(幸運) (ko) (haeng'un) Latin: fēlīcitās f Latvian: laime (lv) f Lithuanian: laimė (lt) m Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob) Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ) Norwegian: Bokmål: hell (no) n Polish: szczęście (pl) n Portuguese: fortuna (pt) f Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča), везе́ние (ru) n (vezénije), фортуна (ru) f (fortuna) Scottish Gaelic: àigh m Slovak: šťastie Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), уда́ча f (udáča), везі́ння n (vezínnja) Vietnamese: may mắn (vi), phúc (vi)

agreeable feeling

Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n Finnish: onnellisuus (fi) German: Fröhlichkeit (de) f Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía), χαρά (el) f (chará) Italian: felicità (it) f, allegria (it) f Korean: 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 만족(滿足)) (ko) (manjok)), 충족(充足) (chungjok), 열락(悅樂) (yeollak) Latvian: laime (lv) f Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост (mk) f (radost) Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ) Maori: hurō Polish: szczęście (pl) n Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ) Scottish Gaelic: àigh m Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ) Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)

fortuitous elegance

Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa) Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: (please verify) سَعَادَة f (saʕāda) Bengali: (please verify) সুখ (bn) (śukh) Cebuano: (please verify) kalipay Esperanto: (please verify) feliĉo French: (please verify) bonheur (fr) m Kannada: (please verify) ಸುಖ (kn) (sukha), (please verify) ಸಂತೋಷ (kn) (santōṣa) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: (please verify) خۆشی (xoşî) Norwegian: Bokmål: (please verify) glede (no) m, (please verify) lykke (no) m Old English: (please verify) ēad n Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) àigh m, (please verify) sonas m, (please verify) subhachas m, (please verify) toileachas m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: (please verify) срећа f Roman: (please verify) sreća f Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) sreća f Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) sreća f, (please verify) срећа f Slovene: (please verify) sreča (sl) f Swedish: (please verify) glädje (sv), (please verify) lycka (sv)

References

• “happiness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• Happiness (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• happiness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia