happy
adjective · verb · noun
Simple meaning
Having a feeling that comes from a sense of feeling good or of enjoyment.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hapeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhæpi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
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.
Content, willing, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).
of people
Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky.
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.
in combination
Favoring or inclined to use.
verb
intransitiveinformal
Often followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.
noun
A place in the United States
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Tone
- Usually positive
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, happy is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It keeps things gentle rather than emphatic.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Calm and reassuring
- Usage feel
- Understated and gentle
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use happy
- “I feel so happy when I spend time with my friends and family.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Exaggerated feeling of well-being or elation.
Well off; affluent.
Word Relationships
Similar in idea, different in strength, tone or register.
Stronger
More formal
- gratified , Formal: pleased that something turned out well.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An unexpected piece of good luck.
The live birth of a child.
The time of day when a bar sells alcoholic drinks at a reduced price.
Celebrate noisily, often indulging in drinking.
Usage
Happy *with* a result, happy *about* news, happy *for* another person.
Common: “happy for you”
Less natural: “happy of you”
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “happy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.