| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| happy |
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| SYLLABICATION: | hap·py |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h p  |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: hap·pi·er, hap·pi·est
1. Characterized by good luck; fortunate. 2. Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy. 3. Being especially well-adapted; felicitous: a happy turn of phrase. 4. Cheerful; willing: happy to help. 5a. Characterized by a spontaneous or obsessive inclination to use something. Often used in combination: trigger-happy. b. Enthusiastic about or involved with to a disproportionate degree. Often used in combination: money-happy; clothes-happy. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from hap, luck. See hap. | | OTHER FORMS: | happi·ly —ADVERB
happi·ness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | happy, fortunate, lucky, providential These adjectives mean attended by luck or good fortune: a happy outcome; a fortunate omen; a lucky guess; a providential recovery. See also synonyms at glad1.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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